Foundations
by Aurelianella
Summary: The Titans are assembled and the new tower is complete. But becoming a team takes more than just moving in together. With the public watching their every move, the Teen Titans struggle to find common ground in time to save Jump City from an extra-terrestrial threat out to reclaim what was stolen from them.
1. Chapter 1

The figure on the back of the shiny, red motorcycle kicked down the break stand and swung his leg over the seat. He tugged off his equally red and glossy helmet before tucking it against his hip and stepping forward to take in the gleaming structure before him. The 9am sun gleamed against the glass, nearly blinding him. It was an architectural work of modern art. While it lacked subtlety, the slender, five-story T-shaped building was the embodiment of everything he'd been working toward—a fresh start.

Robin walked his bike toward the garage bay and discovered that he wasn't the first Titan to arrive. Cyborg's hulking figure was partially turned away from him as he did something with one of the security panels beside the door. Robin took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Hey Cyborg, how's it going?" he greeted. Cyborg twisted his head to stare at him. His eyes landed on the sleek, powerful motorcycle at Robin's side, widened momentarily, and then narrowed with the resentment Robin had begun to expect from him.

"As soon as I upload the last of these security codes she'll be open for business," he said, turning back to the panel. Up close, Robin could see a cable running from his robotic arm to the panel on the wall. A holographic projection of the downloading computer codes hovered in the space just above his forearm.

"Great," said Robin with a smile. Cyborg glanced at him as if waiting for something. After a moment he nodded.

"The others should be here soon," he said. "Beast Boy called and said the Mayor was giving them a ride. You think that's a good idea?" Robin shrugged.

"The Mayor wants to see what his money's paid for. And if he's hoping to score some good press I can't say that I blame him. Not every city is willing to work hand in hand with its heroes. It won't always be easy, but it's a whole lot easier than having to watch your back from the bad guys and the good guys."

"I'm sure you'd know all about that. I thought there was a warrant out for Robin's arrest. How'd you talk Mayor Collins and the police commissioner out of locking you up the moment you walked through their door?"

"They tried," said Robin with a shrug. "I even let them put handcuffs on me just so they would hear me out. It took five seconds before the handcuffs were twirling around my finger. The cop that tried to put them back on wound up with his ankle cuffed to the leg of the chair."

"I'm surprised they didn't taze you."

"They might have tried that too," Robin said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Let's just say that by the time the interview was over they realized it was easier working with me rather than against me." Robin puffed out his chest. Cyborg didn't grin.

"You could have called us. We'd have backed you up. I thought that's what this _team_ was supposed to be about." Bitterness laced his words. Robin's smile faded.

"I thought it would be better if I went alone—less intimidating that way," he murmured. Cyborg's head came up fast, and he whirled so fast he nearly yanked the cable from the security panel.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"It means," said Robin through clenched teeth, "That you're a half-robot with sonic cannons strapped to your arms, Beast Boy's green and can change into a tiger in the blink of an eye; Starfire nearly tore apart the city single-handedly, and Raven…kinda creeps people out. Compared to that, I come across pretty tame." Cyborg continued to scowl. He mumbled something under his breath and went back to what he was doing. Robin frowned. It had been like this between them ever since the Gordanian attack. Cyborg challenged him over everything. When Robin offered the olive branch of working together to design the security systems for the new tower, Cyborg grumbled that he'd have been better off asking Batman. After all, no one had ever been able to break into the Bat Cave. When Robin showed him a blueprint outfitted with Bat-level safeguards though, Cyborg had plenty to say about how to upgrade the systems so that they could come and go freely without tripping off the alarms.

Behind them, a silver Escalade pulled up the drive. Robin glanced down to the water where a ferry was waiting. When the SUV came to a stop, the three passenger doors opened to reveal the remaining Titans. Beast Boy bounded from the front seat, grinning toothily up at the silver tower. Raven floated out of the car and went to retrieve her bags from the back. Starfire shot straight through the sunroof, wrapping her arms around herself in a hug.

"Friends!" she cried, spotting Robin and Cyborg immediately. "It is good to be doing the relocation of our possessions from our previous dwelling to this one." She touched down beside Robin and wrapped her arms around his neck in a strong embrace. His face went red and he patted her awkwardly on the head.

"It's good to see you too, Star." Cyborg snorted and mouthed, '_Star?_' with a suggestively lifted eyebrow. Starfire, oblivious to his teasing, swiftly pounced on him next.

"Starfire, what've you got in here, a rhinoceros?" called Beast Boy from behind the car where he heaved on a large orange bag that didn't so much as move against his weight.

"Now now," said Mayor Collins, coming around to help him.

"You are my guests in Jump City. Let me take those bags." He waved Beast Boy aside and reached to take the innocent-looking handles. Starfire darted over to assist, but he flashed a smooth, charismatic smile that held a trace of condescension. Robin folded his arms and smirked as the mayor gave a gigantic heave that did nothing more than tear one of the straps. Taking pity on him, Starfire smiled and swooped down to scoop up her belongings in her arms. For her they appeared no weightier than the half-empty cardboard box Beast Boy scooped up with his name scrawled across the side in green marker. There was nothing but comic books, a couple of pairs of socks, and a spare set of boxers inside.

"Ah, I hope you don't mind, but I've taken the liberty of bringing along my photographer," said Mayor Collins, valiantly trying to hide his embarrassment. Before Robin could answer, a fifth person got out of the Escalade. "This is Mr. Fields." He was a young man with a checker-patterned camera strap draped around his neck. As soon as he was out of the car he snapped a shot of the tower. Robin knew it was not the first photograph he had taken since he'd been on the island.

"Of course, Mayor," he said with false enthusiasm. He waited for the others to assemble around him. Starfire hovered just behind his right shoulder while Cyborg took up a position behind his left. With a bored expression on her face, Raven glided over to hover beside him, and Beast Boy scrambled to sprawl at his feet, arms thrown ridiculously wide. Robin folded his arms while the photographer snapped away. At the first flash, Starfire let out a loud 'eep' and lifted her hands instinctively to protect herself. Green energy coated her fists.

"Easy Star," said Robin out of the corner of his mouth. "It's called a camera. It takes pictures." Her eyes were round with confusion—she didn't know what pictures were—but she glanced around and saw Cyborg and Beast Boy grinning as they struck more playful poses, and let her starbolts fizzle out. Robin made a mental note to explain about cameras and the paparazzi later.

"Are we finished?" Raven cut in drily a few moments later.

"Get one with me, Fields," said the Mayor, smoothing his salt and pepper hair back from his forehead and straightening the lapels on his coat as he strode into the frame. He turned toward the camera at the same time he thrust out his hand to yank Robin toward him. The look on Robin's face was less gracious than the one he'd been hoping for. They tried again.

"I'll be in my room," said Raven before any more shots could be suggested. There was a loud screech as a towering black cloud in the form of a Raven engulfed her before flashing out of sight and taking her with it. Mayor Collins gasped and put a hand over his heart.

"Yes Robin, may we now see our new living quarters?" Starfire implored, tugging on his arm with all the eagerness of a child begging to open presents on Christmas morning. He grinned reluctantly just before he heard the click of Field's camera.

"Knock yourself out."

She reared back in surprise.

"He means 'make yourself at home,'" Cyborg corrected with a knowing smile. Her mouth opened in a silent 'oh' of understanding before she giggled, scooped up her orange bag, and flew through the sliding glass front door that parted the moment she flew within range. Robin turned to follow her but Mayor Collins cleared his throat.

"I was hoping you might offer me a tour, Robin," he said expectantly, rocking onto the balls of his feet. Cyborg took one look at the expression on Robin's face, chuckled, and quickly walked away to help Beast Boy pick up the comics he'd spilled tripping in his haste to get inside.

"Sorry, but tours are strictly prohibited. It was in the contract we signed, remember?" Stony-faced, Robin folded his arms again. The Mayor held up his hands in instant retreat.

"Can't blame me for trying," he said quickly. "In any case I wanted to express Jump City's deepest gratitude that the Titans have chosen our fair city as their new home. My wife and I would be honored if you would join us at a small banquet we are throwing in your honor next week." He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a small envelope decorated with gold leafing. Robin took the invitation with a nod.

"Thank you, Mayor. We'll be in touch." With another curt nod to Fields, he walked into the tower and punched the security codes just inside the door that initiated the cloaking system that made turned the clear glass utterly opaque. Every window in the tower fogged over with an iridescent finish that made it impossible for even the longest-range telescope to penetrate. Titans' Tower was officially open.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you for taking the time to review. I'm fairly new to writing fanfiction so I appreciate any feedback on how I'm doing.

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Robin wandered down the long hallway leading to their rooms. The girls' rooms were on the right side of the hall and the boys were on the left. He hesitated just before he rounded the corner. None of the others had brought many things with them. All Raven's possessions fit in the navy backpack she had slung over her shoulder, Beast Boy didn't appear to have even a change of clothes, and despite its apparent weight, Starfire's bag was not large.

"Dude!" Beast Boy cried when Robin walked passed his door. The changeling bounded into the corridor flapping his arms excitedly. "A bunk bed? I've always wanted a bunk bed!" Robin smiled.

"I know. You wrote it down on your wish list five times." Beast Boy's ears drooped slightly with embarrassment.

"Did you see Raven's room? It's wicked spooky!" He dropped his voice and glanced over his shoulder. The door across the hallway slammed shut with a loud _bang_. Beast Boy flinched.

"D'you think she heard me?"

"Probably." Robin moved away while Beast Boy squirmed, looking at Raven's door with trepidation. The next room on the left belonged to Cyborg. He also had his door opened, and he was standing next to a glass trophy case carefully lining up a set of trophies. The one in his hands was molded into the shape of a hand throwing a football. One look at Cyborg's face and Robin quickly moved past the room without interrupting. He understood Cyborg's resentment, but there was not much he could do to change the cards fate had dealt him.

"Oh it is glorious!" Starfire called, soaring out of her room to take his arm. "I have never had such a room before. Robin you have been most generous in choosing the 'room designated for a bed even when it contains other pieces of furniture.' I have observed that humans do not sleep in circular beds, or with their heads hanging off the side. You must have gone to great trouble to find one for me." Happiness radiated from her as she pulled him inside her room to see. Robin checked himself on the threshold. There hadn't been time to brief them on the rules concerning appropriate visiting hours. Starfire took no notice and simply tugged harder until his choices were to either enter the room or lose his arm.

"I have never seen such an abundance of pink before. It is most pleasing."

"What was your room like before?" he asked politely. He hoped that he had understood her requests and that his choices reminded her of her home planet. To his surprise, her smile faded.

"It has been a long time since I have had the room to call my own. I do not remember." He didn't know what to say to that. Clearly he had touched on a nerve and he backpedaled quickly.

"Well, I'm glad you like it, Star. If there's anything else you need, just tell me."

"Thank you, Robin," she said, and the way she said his name put a glow in his heart as he headed for the door.

"When you're finished in here I've got an announcement to make in the common room—that's the main room next to the kitchen—and afterwards I want to do a little training so put on your uniform." She drew herself up formally and gave an efficient nod, as if she were a soldier being addressed by a general. He opened his mouth to correct her, couldn't find the right words, and wandered back up the hallway, repeating the message to the other three.

"You're not even going to let us settle in before you start going on about training?" Cyborg complained. Beast Boy's jaw dropped in astonishment.

"Dude, Robin's going to train us to fight crime! He learned to fight from the Batman! It's totally like we're being trained by the Batman!" He was so excited that he was practically bouncing. Robin froze. At the sound of his former mentor's name his hands curled into fists. He wasn't a sidekick anymore; he wasn't going to live in Batman's shadow forever, and he certainly wasn't going to act like Batman when he trained his team.

"See you in the common room in five," he muttered. Behind him he heard Cyborg mutter, "He thinks he's so cool—"

"Dude, he _is_ cool!" Beast Boy insisted. Robin stopped walking and lifted his head. "He started fighting crime in Gotham when he was twelve. _Twelve!_ And Gotham's got the worst villains out of anywhere. D'you think you could've taken on the Joker when you were twelve?" Cyborg didn't say anything, a small victory Robin supposed.

They took their time in getting to the common room, all except Beast Boy who scrambled through the doors like an over-excited puppy. His eyes were shining as he looked expectantly at Robin.

"Are we going on our first mission?"

"Uh, no. Actually we're—"

"Not ready for a mission yet," said Raven, appearing beside him. "We defeated the Gordanians because we were lucky and they weren't prepared." Beast Boy poked out his lower lip petulantly.

"So what's this all about then?" asked Cyborg.

"I'll tell you just as soon as Star—" Robin's voice died in his throat as the Tamaranean beauty glided into view. His face went scarlet and he became incredibly aware of everyone else in the room. Frowning, Beast Boy turned to look and was struck by the same spell that had him frozen in place. Even Cyborg, when he turned, couldn't keep from letting his mouth fall open.

"What is the announcement, Robin?" asked Starfire.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say, Starfire, what are you wearing?" asked Raven. Her face was hidden in the deep shadow cast by her cowl, but she twisted away so that she didn't have to look. Starfire paused and took in the array of scandalized faces around her. Some of the color slipped from her face and she curled in on herself.

"You said we were to prepare for training. I have changed into my battle attire. Have I done something wrong?"

Robin's mouth went dry. Her 'battle attire' was a skin-tight, purple, leotard with a plunging V-neck that dove down to her bellybutton, exposing a generous amount of orange skin on its way, and showed off the whole of her muscular back. She wore purple wrist-guards and a thin metallic bracelet that encircled her left bicep. Her long legs were encased in a pair of thigh-high purple boots that managed to reveal every rippling contour of her shapely legs.

"W-what happened to the uniform you were wearing when we fought off the Gordanians?" Robin stammered, training his eyes to look no lower than the scrap of purple that encircled her throat and looked to be the sole piece of fabric holding the outfit in place. She cocked her head to the side, casting anxious looks at each of them before she answered.

"Tamaraneans derive our energy from the sun. The Gordanians that were transporting me put me in that suit to prevent me from absorbing sunlight through my skin. On my planet this is the customary battle attire so that we may stay energized during combat. This is a problem?"

Robin didn't know what to say. If wearing the suit helped her in battle then he didn't want her get rid of it, but one glance at her and he knew that he would never be able to fight alongside her dressed like that without getting majorly distracted. If she had been wearing that when she'd pulled him in for that kiss in the street that day…

"I think you look great, Starfire," Beast Boy blurted out. She blushed.

"Rob, if she goes out like that people are going to talk," Cyborg stepped closer so Starfire wouldn't hear. Robin bristled.

"She's an alien, they're going to talk no matter what." Robin made up his mind. Less than ten minutes ago he had told her to do whatever she needed to in order to feel at home on their world. He couldn't start off by telling her not to wear her traditional battle suit just because it made him painfully aware of the hormones he normally pushed to a distant compartment of his brain he pretended he didn't have time for. He took a deep breath. He could handle this. She was beautiful, but he'd been around beautiful women before. He could handle this…

"You look fine, Star," he said. Raven made a small noise from beneath her hood, but her face was turned away so he couldn't read her expression. Quickly, he cleared his throat and arranged his face into a serious expression.

"Before the mayor left, he invited us to a banquet." He held up the glossy envelope. As expected, the announcement was met with groans, all except Starfire who looked merely wary due to the others' reactions. Robin looked at each of them in turn.

"This is pointless," said Raven immediately, gliding backwards and drawing her cloak tight around her.

"This is our opportunity to make a good impression on some of the more influential people in Jump."

"Exactly," said Cyborg, speaking over him. "You want to parade us around in front of a bunch of rich snobs." Robin clenched his fists, crushing the envelope.

"The more those 'rich snobs' like us the easier it will be when we need their help." No one looked convinced. In fact, Raven and Cyborg looked downright mutinous. Robin crossed his arms in frustration.

"We're going, and that's final."

He strode off in the direction of the gymnasium. The others followed slowly. Starfire could be heard asking why no one else wished to partake in the 'ceremonial feasting' with the mayor. He glanced over his shoulder and quickly swept his gaze over her woefully inadequate attire. Inwardly he groaned at the thought of having to explain the human concept of modesty to her. Not until that moment had he realized that modesty _was_ a human notion.

She was the last to file in past him as he held open the door. She spiraled through the doorway, smiling innocently as the trails of her long, red hair brushed across his cheek. The scent of strawberries filled his brain and he steeled himself against the ridiculous thoughts threatening to bombard his mind. _Focus_, he told himself. It was time to see what the Titans were truly made of.

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**A/N: **I own nothing. The costume that Starfire is wearing is her original one from the comics (from the pre-New 52 era). It might be more revealing but I can't imagine they weren't still getting an eyeful if she was flying overhead and doing kicks in that miniskirt from the cartoon. R/R.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. They encourage me to keep going. **

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"All right, team," said Robin, standing in front of the benches where the other sat. "I want to run some drills to get a better idea of what all our strengths and weaknesses are. We've each learned how to fight on our own, but we're going to have to learn to work together. I'd like to go one at a time. Who wants to go first?"

Beast Boy sprang to his feet waving his hand feverishly in the air. Robin smiled a tight smile.

"Okay Beast Boy. I've set up an obstacle course. I want you to start over there and try and get to the other side. There's going to be some surprises along the way,but that's just to check how well you can think on your feet." Robin moved to a small silver podium with a display screen. Beast Boy interlocked his fingers and stretched his arms out in front of him with a supremely confident look on his face.

"I just have to get from one side of the room to the other? Piece of cake." He twisted his torso from side to side and then flashed the others a thumbs up. Robin smirked as he punched the silver button to begin the simulation.

The floor rumbled as the gleaming wooden floorboards of the basketball court parted to reveal a smooth metal platform. With loud whizzing noises several plateaus appeared of varying heights. On the other side of the tallest peak was a gaping pit that stretched nearly seven foot out. Ropes dropped down from the ceiling, and positioned on either side of the finish line were two robots armed with lasers.

Beast Boy emitted a small scream. His jaw hung wide open.

"You're being timed, Beast Boy," Robin called, leaning an elbow on the consul.

Shakily, Beast Boy started jogging to the first platform, but had to duck out of the way as a pair of sand bags swung down from the ceiling and nearly knocked him off his feet. He transformed into a green panther and vaulted to the top of the platform, which shook and shuddered and attempted to buck him off. Switching into the form of a raven, he took to the air, but a sudden jet of water spewed up from the grand and all but knocked him out of the sky. He was so startled that he lost hold of his shape and landed hard on the floor. The water cannon pivoted and took aim again. With a startled sound, Beast Boy changed into a rabbit and hopped over the cannon. The rabbit got him safely to the next platform, but rather than try and throw him off when he landed on it, this one collapsed beneath his weight so that he had only seconds to move. As a spider monkey he leapt for one of the ropes and used them to cross most of the distance to the other side. However, the last rope brought him within range of the lasers. The robot on the left fired, slicing through the rope holding him in the air. Beast Boy vanished.

Robin blinked and stood up straight, surprised. Then, just as quickly the green changeling appeared in his normal form hunched over on all fours gasping for breath. As soon as he crossed the finish line the robots stopped firing and the obstacle course slid back into the floor of the gym.

"Great job, Beast Boy!" called Robin, who was actually pleasantly pleased by the youngest member's progress. "Who's next?"

Starfire volunteered next. She hovered just over the starting line, green eyes glowing and hands encased in green flames. Robin stole another glance at her in her all-too-revealing costume and gulped. His fingers found the second button on the consul and pressed.

With such varied powers and varying strengths, the Tower's gym had been outfitted with the latest training equipment available. The Justice League ahd even donated some of their technology in the hopes that Robin's team would one day join them at the Watchtower. The obstacle course that Robin designed for Starfire was nothing like Beast Boy's. From what he'd seen during their first meeting she was an aerial fighter. She glided through the air, her movements graceful yet deadly, and he eyed her starbolts consideringly, wondering just how dangerous they really were. For Starfire, several large rings descended from the ceiling while below her twenty of the same laser-bearing robots emerged from the floor. Rather than the sandbags Beast Boy had dodged, she had ten punching bags to avoid. Robin expected her to be a little taken aback, but instead, she giggled and sank into a low crouch, waiting for him to begin.

Ten seconds. In under ten seconds Starfire was standing on the other side and every single one of the robots had a crater in its chest where her starbolt had struck it. Robin's jaw dropped.

"Uh…Raven. How about you next?"

She shot him a bland look but quietly walked over to the starting line. Her course was a mixture of the two previous ones, the lighter-weight swinging obstacles and a few more lasers than what Beast Boy had dealt with. While Raven could fly, she didn't use it with the same freedom that Starfire did, which led Robin to believe that she would need more ground training.

She surprised him.

When he told her to begin, Raven lifted her hands into the air and summoned a large, black raven that engulfed her in its wings, vanished, and then reappeared on the other side. Robin clicked his tongue impatiently.

"That's cheating, Raven. You didn't even engage the targets."

Nonplussed, she lifted her hands again, muttered something, and out of the ground sprang grasping black tentacles that tore the robots apart and yanked the sandbags from the ceiling.

"Satisfied?" she called. If he didn't know any better he'd say she sounded smug. Actually, he wasn't satisfied. While he was able to see that she could handle multiple targets at once, he still didn't have a good enough read on her combat skills. He'd deal with that later. It was Cyborg's turn. This was the one he'd been worried about. Cyborg was the biggest and bulkiest of the Titans, which also made him their slowest member. His arsenal of gadgets was impressive, but it wouldn't be a lot of help when speed and agility were needed. His course was the same one Beast Boy had run.

As expected, his bulk slowed him down and made him an easier target for the swinging projectiles. The bucking platform nearly threw him and even though he was braced for the collapsing one, his jump to the ropes fell short and he landed hard enough on the ground that Robin was worried he'd dented some of his circuitry. With a growl of frustration, Cyborg barreled headfirst across the ground, arm raised in front of him to blast the two robots that were guarding the finish line. By the time he crossed it he was panting heavily.

"Nice job, guys!" called Robin. "Now the next thing—"

"Wait, aren't you going to do it?" Beast Boy interrupted. When Robin glanced at him there were stars in his eyes again. He really hoped the changeling got over his hero-worshipping fast; it made him uncomfortable. Robin took a good look at Beast Boy then, taking in the purple and black one-piece, long-sleeved costume. Beast Boy had been a member of the Doom Patrol. He wasn't new to the world of superheroes. Still, he was practically dancing with excitement as he waited for Robin to agree.

"Fine. I'll do it. Push this button when I get into position," he mumbled. This could go one of two ways. Either his team was impressed by his display, or it would only push them further away from him. They needed to remember that he had trained under Batman. The obstacle course he had put them through had been virtually harmless by comparison to the things Batman threw at him. Before he took his place at the starting line he removed his collapsible bo-staff from his utility belt. His fingers tightened around it as he waited for Beast Boy to press start.

In the blink of an eye a laser maze sprang up from the floor with armed robots situated in all four corners. Robin sprang forward, ducking and dodging between beams of light. When a laser shot too close he hugged his cape around him to take most of the blast before he somersaulted over to the robot and decapitated him with a hard swing of his staff. Then, with more acrobatic flips he took out the remaining three robots, before shooting his grappling hook to the ledge where the finish line stood. He wasn't even out of breath when he climbed onto the platform.

Beast Boy and Starfire cheered. Cyborg looked reluctantly impressed, and Raven just blinked.

"Now let's do some weight training."

Robin found that he enjoyed helping the others work on their skills. He resolved to teach Beast Boy and Raven more hand-to-hand combat, while Cyborg and Starfire would work together to develop his speed and her restraint. It wasn't until she sank her fist into her second punching bag that Robin realized she wasn't holding anything back. The Gordanians had been an alien threat capable of handling a full-strength Tamaranean-powered punch, but one unchecked blow to a human and they would be swimming in a sea of lawsuits. Fortunately, Cyborg was able to run a program that would gauge the strength of her hits and they would be able to monitor them until she was consistent. Teaming them up also seemed good for Cyborg's attitude as well. He knew he'd had the worst run through the obstacle course, but seeing that he could genuinely improve Starfire's ability to fight gave him a sense of purpose and took his mind off his own shortcomings—for now at least. Robin knew he would be beating himself up later when no one else was around.

Yes, Cyborg was going to be a difficult one to get through to. Out of all of them, he was the one who probably needed the team the most.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I don't own characters, dialogue, or anything else that comes from the DC universe or the television show.

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Robin stayed in the gym after everyone else left. He sat bent over with his elbows resting on his knees and a white towel draped over the back of his neck. The water bottle in his left hand was half-empty. Spraying a stream into his mouth he swished it around before swallowing it in one gulp.

At this rate the Teen Titans were never going to get anywhere. Their personalities were so different, their backgrounds so varied that he doubted if they would ever find enough common ground to trust each other. He took the edge of his sleeve and wiped at the bead of sweat sliding down the bridge of his nose. Bruce had never prepared him for this. The Dynamic Duo were not a team. It was Batman and Robin, emphasis on the 'and.' Batman worked alone. Robin tagged along. That was how it had always been. The rare occasions when he'd saved Batman's neck, Batman denied needing saving. He had backup plans within backup plans. Their relationship hadn't prepared Robin for dealing with heroes his own age. Batman was older, a father-figure to a child. The Titans weren't looking for that in him. In fact, the quicker he stopped trying to parent them the better off he'd be, he acknowledged.

The training he could handle. It was the one thing he knew he could do. But they were all so damaged. No one becomes a superhero without getting a few scars first. Starfire had come to them as a fugitive from a Gordanian prison transportation vessel. Beast Boy was green, and he hadn't been born that way. Cyborg—well enough said. And Raven…he didn't know her story, but she was too guarded to not have something she wanted to hide. He wouldn't push her on it. He had no right to pry when he had his own skeletons stuffed in a box deep in his closet.

Taking one last swig from his water bottle, Robin heaved himself off the bench and started making his way toward his room. He was deep in thought, and it took him a moment before the itch between his shoulder blades alerted him to the presence waiting just behind him. He stopped walking, but didn't turn.

"Cyborg," he acknowledged. Experience told him that it unnerved the other person when he announced their presence without looking to see who it was. With only four others in the Tower, it was easy to deduce from the sheer amount of space the figure took up in his peripheral vision who it must be. Cyborg stepped out of the shadow of the door where he had been waiting.

"You were in there a long time."

"I needed a quiet place to think."

"You having doubts?"

"Actually, yes." Robin finally turned then, in time to see the surprise on the human portions of Cyborg's face. His robotic hands clenched momentarily, and then dropped to his sides.

"I don't blame you. We're a mess. That obstacle course was no joke. I…I owe you an apology. I know I've kinda been giving you a hard time. They call you the Boy Wonder, and I guess I can see why." Robin didn't say anything. Cyborg began rubbing the knuckles of one hand with the palm of the other. "I'm not making things easier on you. Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire need a strong leader, and every time I get in your way it just undermines what you're trying to do."

"You know, I've never actually been part of a team before—no, Batman doesn't count—but you have." Cyborg took a half-step back in surprise. Robin waited until the denial faded from his face before he continued. "I saw your football trophies, your track medals... You were an athlete before your accident. You're probably the only one of us who knows what it feels like to be normal." Cyborg scanned his eyes up and down Robin with obvious envy. Robin knew what he was thinking.

"Just because I have all my original parts doesn't mean my life is normal. Even before Batman I didn't have a normal life. I traveled all the time, I didn't go to school, and I was always training. After Batman took me in, well…" Robin trailed off. For the first time he wondered whether Bruce had done him a favor when he took him in and introduced him to the life of a vigilante. He loved being Robin and knew that there was no other path for him, but what if things had been different? Who would he have become then?

"You're doing fine," said Cyborg finally. "You know what you're talking about and you care. That's more than I can say for some of the coaches I had in school. But maybe you could ease up a little. Beast Boy's still a kid, Starfire's brand new to this planet, and Raven needs to come out of her shell. Getting the moves right is the easy part, but maybe we should go out for pizza or something. You said we have to go to that banquet. Take the girls shopping." Robin paled, and Cyborg chuckled. "We can all go shopping. I'm not sure if you noticed, but I think the only clothes Beast Boy owns are the ones on his back."

"Yea, I saw," said Robin quietly.

"So…pizza?" asked Cyborg, clapping his hands together and rubbing them back and forth. Robin hesitated, analyzing the pros and cons of taking the team off the island.

"Sure," he finally agreed. Cyborg's face split into a wide smile.

"Well alright!"

After they were all showered, they piled into the silver hatchback Cyborg had parked in the garage.

"I'm still working on modifying her, but she runs just fine," he said proudly, giving the dashboard an affectionate pat.

"I call shotgun!" cried Beast Boy as Robin was reaching to open the door on the front passenger side. He sent him a 'you've got to be kidding me' look, before magnanimously stepping back from the door and opening the rear one instead. He stood aside to let Raven slide in ahead of him, and then Starfire. She was still wearing the ultra-revealing uniform, and Robin smirked when he realized that the entire team was wearing their respective battle uniforms. Cyborg and Beast Boy didn't really have a choice, but Raven had on a body-hugging, floor-length purple robe with slits on either side that reached all the way up to her hips. The outfit had no sleeves, but she wore long, purple gloves that covered two-thirds of her arms. A belt of gold, interlocking circles draped around her hips. In its own way, her costume was every bit as captivating as Starfire's.

Titans Tower was situated in the middle of a large lake on the edge of Jump City. So far as anyone knew the only way onto the island was by boat, or to fly. But Robin and Cyborg had arranged for a secret tunnel to extend beneath the lake so that they could drive to and from the island without being seen. The tunnel was made entirely of glass, and Starfire eagerly leaned across Robin to peer through the windows at the murky water. Robin held his breath as the sweet smell of her strawberry-scented shampoo assailed him again. She didn't notice. In fact she was practically in his lap in her eagerness to see outside.

Soon the tunnel opened up and they skidded onto a side road that quickly took them onto a main highway. The entrance to the tunnel would sink back into the earth once they were gone. It was the same technology Batman used to conceal the entrance to the Bat Cave.

Robin let Cyborg pick their destination. He'd been living on his own in Jump for a while and would know the best places to find food. To his surprise, they pulled into the crowded parking lot of a two-story mall. Robin met Cyborg's eye in the rearview mirror and scowled.

"Please, what is this place?" Starfire asked, leaning forward in her seat again to get a better look at the blue-glass domed building with colorful neon lights.

"It's called a shopping mall," Robin answered helpfully. "It's a place where people can go shopping, grab a bite to eat, watch a movie…you name it."

"Why would someone only want one bite? Is the food very filling?" The simplicity of it took him by surprise, and he laughed before he could help himself. She wilted and bit at her lower lip.

"It's just an expression," he said, patting her arm apologetically.

"There's a great pizza place on the second floor," said Cyborg, maneuvering the car into a parking space. "You can get anything you want—and I mean anything!"

"What is _pizza_?" Starfire asked. She was more hesitant this time. Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg exchanged one scandalized look before Cyborg hit the brakes, put the car in park, and stabbed the unlock button.

"You've been on Earth how long and you haven't discovered _pizza _yet? Don't worry, we're going to fix that right now!" The Titans piled out of the car and Cyborg led the way at a sprint up the parking lot and into the building. Robin let him take the lead, falling back a little so he could enjoy the shocked faces of the pedestrians who jumped out of their way. Camera phones clicked from all directions, fingers pointed, and jaws dropped, but the Titans acted as if it was nothing out of the ordinary as they raced up an escalator—Starfire exclaiming and hanging back to try to understand why the stairs were alive—and skidded to a halt in front of the promised pizza parlor.

The waitress who seated them was so nervous she dropped the menus three times. It was hard to say which Titan startled her most? Cyborg, because of his half-human features; Robin because he was the Boy Wonder; Raven, because she radiated a 'don't come near me' vibe; Beast Boy because he was green; or Starfire because there was so much of Starfire to see.

"C-c-can I take your drink order?" she stammered, fixing her eyes on her notepad and refusing to look any higher. Her round cheeks were an alarming shade of red. They all ordered sodas, Robin choosing one for Starfire to try since she had no idea what she wanted, and the hostess dashed away. No doubt she would be gossiping in the kitchens with the other waitresses.

In the end they had to order three pizzas to satisfy everyone. Cyborg refused to eat anything with vegetables on it, Beast Boy refused to eat anything with meat products, and Starfire wished to try some of everything. Every waiter in the building found a reason to stop by their table. One was even bold enough to ask if he could take their picture. He was a freckle-faced college kid with brown wavy hair gelled flat to his forehead. Robin smiled politely and reached an arm around Starfire so he could squeeze into the frame. Recognizing the camera for what it was, Starfire flashed her most enchanting smile, and the waiter wandered away looking more than a little dazed.

"Why are we here?" asked Raven after a while. She watched through slightly squinted eyes as Starfire sampled each of the condiments on the table. First she shook some salt and pepper into her hand, then the oregano, and finally made her way to the ketchup and mustard.

"Chill out, Raven. We're here to have some fun," said Cyborg, who was looking concerned by the rapturous expression on Starfire's face. She picked up the mustard bottle again and squeezed an even larger dollop on her finger.

"Please, what is this delicious beverage?" she asked before tilting back her head and squeezing the yellow sauce straight onto her tongue. Robin kicked Beast Boy under the table because the changeling's expression was one of disgusted fascination.

"It's mustard, Star."

"Is there more?"

When the pizza came, before Cyborg or Beast Boy or Robin could explain what any of the toppings were, Starfire slathered her slice with a thick coating of mustard, emptying the bottle. Not even Robin could keep from wincing as she took a bite. She licked her lips and beamed.

"Delicious."

"Really?" Beast Boy perked up. He stretched out his hand for the bottle of mustard that Cyborg had swiped from the booth behind theirs and covered his slice of pizza in it as well. He took a bite and froze. Robin and Cyborg burst out laughing as his face slid quickly from shamrock green to jaundiced yellow. A whimper escaped him as he scrambled to pull a napkin from the dispenser and spit the pizza out. He scrubbed his tongue for good measure.

"Not to your taste?" asked Raven mildly, using a knife and fork to cut her pizza into bite-sized pieces without getting her fingers greasy. Starfire ate with her eyes closed, savoring each bite.

* * *

**A/N: **Since Starfire is in her comic costume, I figured it was only fair that Raven wear hers too. I think the dress looks cooler than the leotard anyway. R/R


	5. Chapter 5

After everyone got over Starfire's strange topping prefrences, the team relaxed and began to actually enjoy their meal together. Even Raven had the beginnings of a smile on her face as she quietly lifted her fork to her mouth while Beast Boy and Cyborg loudly argued the benefits of their pizzas. It was a moot point, as Beast Boy was a vegetarian and refused to even look at Cyborg's Meat Lover's Special, and Cyborg couldn't get past the fact that Beast Boy's came with tofu. Robin leaned back so that he could catch Cyborg's eye behind Starfire's back and gave him a small nod of thanks. Cyborg paused, blinked, and then smiled.

"Hey BB, what d'you say we hit up that video arcade a few doors down? I bet I could beat you on the Wham Bam Blaster 3000!"

Beast Boy was so stunned he dropped his pizza.

"You're on!" Morphing into a green jackrabbit, he dove under the table and loped out the front door. Laughing, Cyborg hopped up from his seat and went after him, leaving Robin to pay the tab. Raven twisted her head to watch them go. Cyborg's deep voice could be heard two doors down shouting, "BB, wait up!"

"Well that keeps them occupied for the next couple of hours. I think I spotted a used book store on the first floor. If you guys need me, I'll be downstairs." Setting down her fork and knife, she gracefully phased through her seat and down through the floor. That left Robin sitting side by side with Starfire. Somehow his arm had crept along the back of the bench seat behind her head, and while she was leaning forward with her elbows on the table Robin quickly withdrew his hand to avoid any of the dozens of people gawking at them getting the wrong idea.

"So what would you like to do, Star?" he asked politely. At first she didn't hear him. She was watching a family of four seated at a small square table across the room. The older brother, who could not have been more than four, was coloring on the child's placemat with the crayons the hostess had brought for him while his two-year-old brother mashed his hands in his kid-size bowl of spaghetti. There were splatters of red tomato sauce in his hair, on his face, and all over the front of his clothes. The two weary-looking parents didn't even seem to notice. The mother only flinched when a particularly large glob of sauce splashed her cheek. Starfire giggled.

Robin clenched and unclenched his fists, reluctant to suggest the next activity because of the stares and whispers he knew they would cause.

"Would you like to go pick out a dress for the banquet?"

Starfire's head snapped around so quickly that Robin had to duck out of the way of the flying ends of her hair.

"Oh yes, that sounds most delightful!" She wilted. "But how am I to purchase one?"

Robin fished out of his wallet a black card stamped with a pair of yellow T's surrounded by a red semi-circle.

"Team funds," he explained when she continued to look confused. She nodded as if she understood, but her eyes continued to stare at the card dubiously. He waited for the inevitable question, all the while trying to keep from grinning. Sensing that he was amused by her, Starfire hunched her shoulders, but pressed on nonetheless.

"There is only one. Will you not use it to purchase our meal? There will be none left to buy the dress. And I am certain Raven will wish to have a new gown as well." She sounded sad. Grinning, Robin waved the waitress over and handed him the black card. While she was gone he explained how credit cards and bank accounts worked. She listened with rapt fascination, and when he pulled out some bills and coins to show her the different types of currency, she eagerly inspected them. Robin watched her analyzing the bills, her eyes pouring over every detail, memorizing each one.

"Why are the faces different?"

"Each amount has the face of a different president who made a difference in our nation's history. What's the money like on your planet?" He asked the question in a vain attempt to avoid her next one about who each president was and what he had done to earn a place on the money. She brightened immediately at the mention of her planet.

"On Tamaran we do not use paper money. We use the 'barter system?' We take much of what we need from the plants and animals around us, and we trade our resources with other planets around us for the weapons and supplies that we need."

At that point the waitress returned. Robin gave her a substantial tip, which left her blushing. He didn't even realize he'd taken Starfire's hand to pull her out of the seat with him until he overheard the girl in the booth behind them ask her mother, "is that Robin's girlfriend?" He let go of her hand at once. Starfire didn't notice. She merely trailed him to the door and down the hall until they came to the first formal dress shop.

It was odd walking around in public as Robin. In Gotham he would never have dreamed of strolling through a mall with his mask on. Granted, he earned just as many double-takes as Dick Grayson, but he wasn't used to the wide-eyed, adoring stares of the children who pointed and yanked on their parents arms in an effort to run up to him. He felt a tug on his cape as he held open the dress shop door for Starfire. The little boy wasn't even tall enough to reach his belt. Enormous brown eyes stared up at him.

"Hi little guy," he said cheerfully, squatting down so they were on eye-level. "What's your name?" The little boy's eyes grew even rounder. A few paces behind him his mother hovered, her hands covering her mouth anxiously. When Robin glanced at her she mouthed, 'sorry.' He grinned and shook his head.

"Ethan," the boy whispered so quietly Robin had to read his lips to know what he was saying.

"Nice to meet you, Ethan. I'm Robin." He held out his hand to shake the little boy's. Ethan could not have been older than five or six, and Robin's hand engulfed his small one easily.

"Is Batman here?" he asked, growing bolder. For a moment, Robin's smile went stiff.

"No. Batman stays in Gotham. But I've got one of my new friends with me. Starfire, come here." Starfire was watching them with a broad smile on her face. When Robin waved her over she knelt down to wave at Ethan as well. Shyly, he pointed at her.

"You're orange."

Starfire giggled.

"All right, Ethan. Time to leave the nice people alone now," said his mother, swooping in. She took his hand and led him away. Ethan twisted around to wave goodbye Robin and Starfire, who waved back.

"You are very good with the children," Starfire observed.

Robin shrugged, standing up again and moving into the dress shop.

"When I was a kid my family and I used to put on shows for little kids." On the surface he managed to appear indifferent, but on the inside he kicked himself violently.

"Really? What kind of shows?"

"Nothing special… What do you think of this one?" He grabbed the skirt of the nearest gown, a hideous shade of shiny neon green covered in bronze and yellow sequins. Starfire tilted her head to the side, giving it serious consideration. Robin held his breath.

"It is very lovely, but I think I will keep searching," she said diplomatically. Robin smirked.

"It's ugly, Star. You can say it." She grinned back.

"Very well, it is hideous."

They laughed.

Robin wasn't laughing twenty minutes later when Starfire tried on her fourteenth dress. If he wasn't worried about her getting lost in the crowd he might have left her to shop on her own. He envied Beast Boy and Cyborg who were probably having a great time in the arcade. Heck, he'd prefer the used book shop to standing around uselessly while Starfire tried on dress after dress. After each one she asked the dreaded question, "what do you think?" Somewhere around dress number five and six he was disconcerted to find himself saying things like, 'I think an A-line would suit you better than a ball gown,' and 'I think you should go for the silver rather than the gold.'

As the eager shop clerk appeared with yet another armload of suggestions, Robin caved.

"Uh Star, I think our friends are probably wondering where we are."

Starfire and the clerk burst into giggles, though the clerk glanced nervously at his bewildered face before she stifled hers.

"I told you he would do the 'breaking' eventually," said Starfire conspiratorially. "Please, you know which one I prefer." Nodding, the clerk hung the untried dresses on a nearby cart and went to retrieve the one Starfire had evidently chosen without Robin's knowledge. Robin narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Starfire clasped her hands innocently behind her back.

"My k'norfka would never have sat through so many selections. You are most patient, Robin," she teased.

"From now on, you can go shopping with Raven," he said mildly. He folded his arms over his chest, the picture of disgruntled. Starfire threw her arms around him and hugged him with enough strength to leave bruises.

"Thank you, Robin. I am sorry for doing the inconveniencing of you. You were most helpful."

"That's me, Boy Wonder and fashion designer extraordinaire," he mumbled, still trying to sound put-out. But he couldn't help but smile when he handed her the black credit card and she dashed away to pay for her dress. It felt good to make her happy. This trip had made the entire team happy. They were out in public like normal people, having fun and being teenagers. It was something that Batman had never encouraged.

"Hey Starfire, will you wait here for me? I'll be right back." She waved her hand over her shoulder. The last words he heard her asked the clerk before he stepped outside were, 'what is the manicure?' He rolled his eyes and laughed.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I really wanted to try out writing a heavy action scene. Let me know what you think.

* * *

explosion went off. Years of training kept him on his feet as the second floor shuddered. Overhead the glass ceiling cracked. Bits of debris rained down in a mist of dust. A group of high-school kids screamed and huddled together. Robin threw down the box, one hand going automatically for his grappling gun while the other snatched his communicator from his hip.

"Titans!"

A second explosion rocked the ground floor. He swung over the banister, firing the grappling gun to the opposite side to slow his descent. Landing in a crouch with one knee bent and the other back to stabilize himself, he lifted his head. People were screaming, knocking each other over in an effort to get away from the danger. A wall of gray smoke shielded the other end of the mall from view, but he could make out the orange glow of flames. He surged to his feet in a dead sprint.

Frantic bodies got in his way and he fired the grappling gun again, lifting him up from the ground so that he narrowly missed kicking a Mohawk-haired kid in the head.

Where were the others? Leaping over an overturned trash can he raised his communicator again.

"Titans, where are you?"

Up ahead he could see an enormous mass in the center of the smoke and flames. It swung its massive arm and snapped a pillar in two. Robin skidded to a halt as the second story tilted precariously. The concrete cracked. His stomach lurched into his throat as the floor gave way. Five people were on top of it when it fell. Robin dove to snatch the back of a young girl's hoodie to pull her out of the way in time. He threw his body protectively over hers, but the crunch of brick and mortar never came. Whipping his head up, he saw the section of floor hovering in midair, encased in a cloud of black energy.

"Boo-yah!" A jet of blue light sailed overhead, followed closely by a whooshing sound and two glowing green balls of light.

A green pterodactyl glided down with Cyborg in tow. A wide grin lit up his face as he fired his sonic cannon at the lumbering behemoth.

"Get to safety," Robin told the girl, pushing to his knees and pointing to an exit. She nodded, wide-eyed. He didn't waste any time. Reaching into his belt he removed two bird-a-rangs. He could see his target now—a huge monstrosity of granite and steel moving with a life of its own. Starfire flew into its face, peppering it with starbolts. The monster roared and swiped at her. One lumpy hand got so close his knuckle grazed her shoulder, spinning her away. Robin fired his bird-a-rangs. They sank into the stony surface.

"Everyone down!" Robin shouted, yanking his cape over his head. The bird-a-rangs gave two shrill beeps before they detonated. Beneath his feet the marble floor cracked as the behemoth hit the ground.

The dust settled. Smoke cleared. A pile of rubble was all that remained of the hulking beast. Robin's shoulders sagged with relief. Wiping sweat from his face he looked around for the other Titans. Cyborg wasn't far away, his sonic cannon still trained on the villain. Beast Boy stood beside him, in human form once more. His fists were clenched and his face was set in serious lines. Raven hovered near the ceiling, her powers holding the building together. Where was Starfire?

From off to his left Robin heard a cough. A slab of concrete shifted, and Starfire crawled free of the debris. Her face was arranged in a scowl of frustration. She appeared unharmed.

Cautiously, Robin approached the thing on the ground. He reached back for another bird-a-rang just in case, but whatever had given it life had disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived.

"I-is it dead?" asked a woman huddling behind one of the remaining pillars. Robin inclined his head to show that he had heard her, but he didn't respond. Cyborg stepped up beside him, running a scan for any signs of life. They exchanged a glance and Cyborg shook his head.

"You're safe now," said Robin. "Whatever he was, he's gone."

Trying to get out of the mall was nearly impossible. The Titans waited for the police and firefighters to arrive, helping get those who were trapped or injured safely out of the building. Once the initial terror wore off, they had to face a sea of people surging in to thank them for saving the day. Raven looked genuinely uncomfortable to be at the center of so much attention, though Beast Boy puffed out his chest proudly and accepted the praise.

It was nearly ten-o-clock when they arrived back at the Tower. Sweaty, tired, yet victorious, all any of them wanted was to take a shower and go to bed.

"Great job, guys," said Robin from the center of the common room as the others were leaving to go to their rooms. "You really came together when it counted."

"Of course, dude," said Beast Boy with a grin. "We're Titans." He punched the air, and gave Cyborg a high-five. Raven rolled her eyes and teleported herself out of the room. Beast Boy and Cyborg walked off together, reliving the fight. Starfire hung back, one hand reaching behind her back to clasp her other elbow.

"Something wrong?" asked Robin. She had been quiet on the ride back, and he sensed that she was beating herself up about something.

"Robin, how am I to know which of the bad guys I may use my full strength against? You said I must practice to dim my starbolts, but when I tried I was ineffective in the battle." She hung her head.

"You weren't ineffective, Star. We took him down as a team. We'll work on your starbolts. I know it seems hard to understand today, but after a while it'll get easier to figure out which bad guys you can let loose on and which ones you can't."

"I could have defeated him myself. On my planet I would be called _ruthka_ for not doing the 'taking down' of him when I knew I could." The bitter disappointment in her voice struck a familiar chord in him, and Robin instinctively reached out to take her hand.

"You are not weak. No one who saw you today would say that about you here." She still didn't look convinced. It reminded him of himself during his early days as Robin. Nothing had ever been good enough. Hitting a target nine times out of ten wasn't good enough, picking a lock in under thirty seconds was too slow, and he would never, ever say he was tired even if he didn't have enough energy left to stand.

"Do you want to practice now?" he offered.

"You are weary," she said, starting to back away.

"Come on, Star. I can always use more practice."

They made their way down to the training room. Her spirits began to lift the closer they came to their destination.

"I want you to make a starbolt," he said once they were inside the gymnasium. She did as he asked with ease. It sat in the palm of her hand like a radioactive green softball.

"Hit me with it."

"What?" At once, the starbolt winked out of sight. Robin smirked.

"Hit me with the strongest starbolt you think I can take."

She bit her lip uncertainly, but brought her hand up again. He didn't duck out of the way, and the starbolt hit him square in the chest. He grimaced, but managed not to cry out. It stung—a lot, but apart from a red mark he was unharmed. Taking a deep breath to tamp down the rush of pain and adrenaline, he looked back at her once more. Her eyes were enormous and her fingers dug into her cheeks with fear. He smirked.

"See, I'm still standing. And I'm pretty sure you could have made it a lot worse if you wanted to. Whenever you're fighting a bad guy just trust your instincts. If it's a human, pretend that it's me that you're firing at."

"It is not the same. My starbolts are tied to my emotions. I conjure them by righteous fury. In the heat of battle it would be much more difficult than in practice."

"That's why we keep practicing. Tonight, just focus on me. We'll play tag."

"Tag? What is the 'tag?'"

Grinning, Robin lunged toward her and tapped her on the elbow before spring-boarding away shouting, "You're it Star. Catch me if you can!" Though at first she looked bewildered, she caught on quickly. Robin laughed as a volley of starbolts chased his heels. Digging deep into his acrobatic repertoire he somersaulted, ducked, dived, even ran up the wall and did a backflip over her head. The starbolts kept on coming, and just when she was starting to gain on him, he raced up the bleachers, leapt, and swung onto the set of uneven bars situated against the far wall of the gym. His momentum propelled his body over and around. He completed two turns before he switched directions and threw himself straight at Starfire. She wasn't expecting it, and he sent two bird-a-rangs whizzing toward her. Her body arched like a cats, evading them easily, but she and Robin narrowly missed colliding with each other in midair.

The ground was coming up fast. His dismount had shot him a good five feet higher into the air. Before he could land, Starfire swooped in and caught his arms, as if she were a trained acrobat herself. They grasped forearms and she laughed and looped him high over her head. Robin whooped as he released her arms to complete a quadruple somersault. His landing was uneven, but he didn't care, he was laughing too hard. Starfire was giggling too.

"Robin, that was most enjoyable. Thank you for doing the cheering of me up."

"Anytime, Star. That's what friends are for."

She glowed so brightly that Robin had to look away. It was odd the effect the simple word 'friend' had on her. The first day they met she'd told him that she had never had friends before. Naturally he'd had friends before. Everyone at Haley's Circus had been like family to him, and after moving into the Manor he'd met Babs and Alfred, and a few other superhero sidekicks. But there was something about Starfire. She wore her heart on her sleeve, something he hadn't been allowed to do for years, and around her he felt some of his old self return. That impromptu catch and release had felt almost like the old days with his mother catching him and tossing him into the air for his father to catch. God, how he missed them! He chanced a sideways look at Starfire. She was alone on an alien planet. Where was her family? Did she miss them as much as he missed his?

"Robin, it is late. We should retire," she said in a warm, happy voice. Her words were a smile.

"Feeling better?" he asked. She grinned.

"You are very silly, Robin. I cannot feel sad when you are near."

"That's what I wanted to hear."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Okay, so if you happened to have read the author's note in 'Cruising the Aisles' you'll know already that I decided to finish that story before I continue this one. I was trying to write a chapter a day for both stories and it started to get a little overwhelming-what with the whole having a day job and a life thing. So, this story is going on the back-burner until I finish that one. If I happen to have enough free time to put up a chapter each then I will, but don't expect updates on this story to be as frequent as they were before until that story is done. Of course I say that and my schedule will probably open up tomorrow and I'll have made this big long author's note all for nothing... Hope so. Anyway, here's tonight's chapter.

* * *

The next morning Beast Boy flipped the channel to the local news station so they could watch the captured footage from the attack that had been shot from several security cameras and smartphones. First there was the initial explosion that had been the villain the reporter dubbed, Cinderblock, smashing his way into the mall. Then there was general mayhem as he ripped and tore his way through the stores, with no apparent goal other than to cause as much damage as possible. Someone had captured Robin saving the little girl by pulling her out of the way just as Raven caught the chunk of floor from crushing them.

"Nice save, Raven!" crowed Beast Boy excitedly. She merely sipped her tea, looking pleased with herself. A glimpse of each of the Titans displaying their powers flashed across the screen.

"We all did a great job," said Robin, pushing himself up from the couch. "And that's why I thought we'd celebrate with…" he walked over to a storage closet and removed a large box. He spun around and Beast Boy and Cyborg's eyes nearly bugged out of their heads.

"A Gamestation 3000!" they cried in unison. "Those aren't even in stores yet!"

"Just what I always wanted," said Raven drily. Starfire giggled, somehow guessing that the present was more for the boys than for her.

Ignoring Raven's sarcasm, Beast Boy nearly trampled her in his haste to reach Robin and snatch the gamestation out of his hands. Cyborg was already kneeling by the television to find room for the cables.

"…if anyone has any information regarding the whereabouts of Ethan—"

"—Wait!" cried Starfire, shooting up from her seat on the couch. An enlarged photograph took up the screen of a little boy with big brown eyes wearing Batman pajamas. Robin's heart sank.

"Who's that?" asked Beast Boy, looking from the picture to Starfire's forlorn face. Robin sighed heavily and walked over to put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's a little boy we met yesterday at the mall."

The group immediately grew somber.

"It cannot be true," said Starfire sadly. Robin grimaced. He hated moments like this, the failures that took all the glory out of a win. Little Ethan's awed expression floated back to him as they'd shaken hands. To think that he had been one of the few who hadn't made it out of the attack was heartbreaking.

"Come on, BB, help me with this," Cyborg mumbled as more photographs filled the screen. This was the part they didn't need to see, the faces of those they hadn't been able to save. Quickly, they busied themselves with hooking up the new gaming system. Raven floated over to the window to meditate, and Starfire walked over to another of the bay windows to stare out across the harbor. Robin was torn. It felt wrong to just leave Starfire wallowing in the wake of the boy's death, but he knew that it was something she was going to have to learn how to deal with in her own way if she wanted to make it as a Titan. They just couldn't save everyone.

They worked on weight training that morning. Robin was both amused and irritated to find that he was the fourth-weakest member of the team, though Beast Boy cheated by taking the form of a gorilla. Cyborg easily benched two tons, but Starfire was the one who surprised them all when she lifted the entire weight rack—all five tons—and moved it to the other side of the room with relative ease. Robin stared in amazement as she laid the entire thing down as gently as if it was made of glass. He closed his eyes and forcefully reminded himself that he was a only a human and he could be proud of the three hundred pounds he could bench press.

Raven struggled the most with the exercises. Whatever her background had been before, building up muscle strength had not been a priority. Within the first hour her limbs were shaking badly, and she started scowling at anyone who looked her way. Beast Boy rushed over to offer a word of encouragement and Robin swore he heard her growl at him before he backed away.

"This is pointless," she said a half-hour later. "I am never going to be able to compete with any of you at this."

"It's not a competition," said Cyborg mildly. She continued to glower, but stalked over to the leg press machine and positioned the weights into place with her powers.

"Would you like to try something else?" Robin offered. "One of the first types of training that Batman gave me was learning how to get out of handcuffs." He reached into his utility belt and pulled out a spare set. Raven gave him a dubious look as he snapped the cuffs in place and then just as quickly snapped them back off again.

"That's a magic trick," she pointed out.

"It's a useful skill."

"Yo, Robin, you really think those flimsy things can hold us?" asked Cyborg, lifting an eyebrow.

"Just try it."

Prepared as always, Robin had a set of handcuffs for each of them. There was a metal folding chair at the end of the benches where they'd left their towels. Beast Boy eagerly volunteered to go first. He sat down and allowed Robin to cuff his hands behind the chair. At first he struggled, wriggling his wrists and tried to win his way free by force. When that didn't work, he morphed into a snake and slithered free.

"Ta-da!"

"That's not how I would have done it, but okay," said Robin, mildly impatient. Raven agreed to go next. As with the obstacle course, the moment he said, 'go,' she initiated her powers and broke the cuffs in half. Robin pinched his lips and said nothing. Cyborg, amused by Robin's obvious annoyance, happily took his turn. No sooner had the cuffs been put on him then he stretched his arms apart and the links snapped.

"Easy as pie."

Robin took one look at Starfire and didn't even bother.

"Well it's nice to know you can get out of _regular_ handcuffs, but what happens when your powers are gone, or your batteries run out, or you can't shift? Your enemies are a lot smarter than you're giving them credit for. You'd be amazed at the things they come up with to trap you."

He walked into the storage room where the spare sports equipment was stored and brought back a box with larger, bulkier handcuffs.

"I had these specially made for you to train with. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. Starfire, I'm afraid since I didn't know how strong you actually are, the only thing I could think to do was use the bracers you were wearing when you landed on earth."

"No."

Every head came up at her uncharacteristically frosty voice. Robin tilted his head, just as surprised as everyone else.

"It's all right," he tried again. "I know how to remove them, I can teach you."

"No," she said again, and this time there was a flash of green light in the depths of her eyes that warned of a coming storm. She folded her arms over her chest, the picture of defiance. Robin set the box down.

"Starfire, put them on."

"I will not be imprisoned again." Before he could say anything else, she took to the air and flew out of the gym.

"Um Robin?" Beast Boy squeaked into the silence. "A little help." Turning, Robin saw that he had somehow managed to handcuff his left wrist to his right ankle. He covered his face with his hand and summoned all the patience he could muster.

Robin went to find her later, once he had calmed down and taken a moment to think about what he wanted to say. While he firmly believed that she needed to know how to escape from the bracers on the off-chance that she was ever imprisoned again, hindsight told him that he might have introduced the concept to her in a different way. He had underestimated her reaction, thinking she would leap at the chance to learn how to free herself rather than focus on the prospect of being chained. Yet another blunder he'd made. Would he ever get the hang of this?

"Uh, Starfire, can I talk to you?" he asked, standing with his toes against her door. There was no answer, not that he really expected her to just let him in. He sighed and raised his fist to knock again.

"She's not in the tower," said Raven, poking her head out of her room. Robin jumped back a pace, annoyed at being caught trying to ask for forgiveness for something he didn't fully believe he should apologize for.

"How do you know that?" he snapped. Defensiveness made him sharper than he meant to be. She lifted one brow at his tone, but shrugged.

"I can't sense her emotions. She projects rather strongly most of the time, and she was sending off some serious vibes when she left the gym. She probably went to clear her head."

"Right," he mumbled. He turned his back so she wouldn't be able to read the jumble of emotions that crossed his face. He didn't like Starfire just going off on her own. She was still so new to Earth. What if she got lost? What if there was trouble? Still, he wasn't her babysitter. Perhaps once she went for a flight her head would be clearer and she would understand that he had not been trying to upset her on purpose. He went to his room, but kept the door open so he would hear her when she got back.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** sorry for the long absence. I've been on vacation with the family and had really spotty wifi. I had to write this on my ipad, which is definitely not ideal. Anyway, hopefully I'll be back to my regular updates once vacation is done. Enjoy!

* * *

By lunchtime, Starfire still wasn't back. Robin did push-ups on the floor of his bedroom facing the door. He reorganized his desk, typed out a report on the mall explosion, and checked his crime scanner repeatedly to make sure there were no further signs of trouble from Cinderblock. While they had blown him up, it was entirely possible that he could regenerate, or be replicated by whatever force had animated him in the first place. Whoever he was he was strong, and Robin didn't like that one of his teammates was unaccounted for.

By dinner time Robin had progressed to doing pull-ups on the bar that he hung in his doorway, barely even registering the exercises as he kept his eyes trained on the door across the hallway. He dropped lightly onto the balls of his feet. His body glistened with sweat and his uniform was soaked through. Even his mask slid a little down the bridge of his nose and he pressed his fingers against it to secure it to his face.

For the better part of the past three hours his communicator had been taunting him from the edge of his desk. This felt like an old game he used to play with Batman: who was going to apologize first? His fists clenched at the thought that Starfire was just messing with his head, but as his mind filled with annoyance, he reminded himself that of his new teammates she was the most open and straightforward. Passive aggressive behavior just didn't seem to fit with her personality.

With a sigh, he reached for the communicator and flipped it on.

"Starfire, come in. Where are you?" He couldn't help but sound defeated. She'd wanted him to chase her and he'd followed. This would be a one-time deal, he promised himself.

The line from her communicator crackled, but he didn't hear anything. Robin went cold inside.

"Starfire?" He raised his voice this time. A second crackle was interspersed with muffled words. "I...discovered...they..._help_!"

"Titans!"

Robin sprang into the hallway so quickly his shoulder bounced off the opposite wall. He initiated a locator sequence on the communicator just as Raven materialized in front of her doorway. Beast Boy and Cyborg poked their heads out of Cyborg's room where they had been watching the legion of new fan videos springing up on the Internet thanks to the footage from their mall rescue. With his door open Robin had been able to hear their comments and most of the dialogue from the videos.

"What's up?" asked Cyborg.

"It's Starfire, she's not answering her communicator."

Cyborg actually laughed. Robin felt the blood drain from his face. His features reformed into the Bat-glare so fast that even he was concerned.

"Man, you know you crossed a line with her. Of course she's not answering."

"If you would let me finish..." Robin growled warningly. "She's transmitting, but the message is all garbled. She called for help. I've located the tracker on her communicator. She's at the mall." Cyborg winced apologetically, and immediately raised his arm to run his own scan. His sensors were more precise, and after a moment he said, "She's at the mall, but it looks like she's underneath it."

The four of them piled into the T-car. Robin rode shotgun, much to Beast Boy's disappointment. Little did Beast Boy know how much Robin hated riding in the passenger seat. It brought back vivid memories of the Bat-mobile. He was the leader of his own team now and he still had to ride shotgun. As the garage door opened, he cast a longing look at his motorcycle. It would be a liability if they were headed underground.

Robin suspected that there was more at play than the bond between a man and his car when it came to the T-car. It was the perfect hybrid of efficiency and power. Though Cyborg never "plugged himself in," the car seemed to be an extension of his robotics systems, and he navigated them to the mall so quickly Robin blinked in surprise at the sight of the half-destroyed building.

"Beast Boy, try getting her on your com," Robin commanded. Cyborg's dig earlier had found its home, and if she still wasn't talking to him he'd prefer not to force the issue. Beast Boy had a little more success. They couldn't make out her words, but the tone of her voice was a mixture of excitement and relief. Robin let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Starfire, where are you? We're in the parking lot. Are you ok?"

More unintelligible chatter.

"This is ridiculous," growled Robin impatiently. He ran toward the mall at a dead sprint. The first floor had collapsed into the underground parking deck. With a mixture of acrobatics and grappling hook, he swung down into the basement levels, leaving Raven to transport the other two on the flat black disks of energy she created.

"Starfire!" Robin cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted into the echoing darkness. The floor had gone deeper than he'd expected, blasting through the first deck down to the second.

"Robin!" Her response was faint, but it sent his heart soaring and gave him a direction. She was one more tier down. Within moments he found her, and when he did the sight that greeted him nearly stopped his heart altogether.

The entire slab of the first floor that had broken off to slam into the basement was pinning her to the ground by her rib cage. Her arms pushed it up just high enough to keep it from crushing her in two, but as Robin skidded to her side he saw that her arms were shaking with the strain. A million questions went through his hesd. How long had she been stuck that way? How had she gotten down there in the first place? Why? Despite the strain, her mouth relaxed at the sight of him into the closest thing to a smile the situation warranted.

"It's all right, Star, you'll be out of here soon. Raven!" He twisted around to call over his shoulder. There was no response. Carrying two others she was moving much slower than usual. Starfire groaned.

"I am sorry for my behavior in the room of training. I believe that I did the overreacting." She grimaced, readjusting her grip. Concrete and metal shifted ominously. To reassure her, Robin forced a smile and brushed her hair out of her face. His hand lingered behind her ear.

"Star, that's kind of the last thing on my mind at the moment," he said with a weak chuckle. Her teeth flashed in a smile.

"Robin?" Her nose wrinkled with concentration. "Please do the forgiving of me. I cannot...please say that you are not angry with me." The slab shifted again and she grimaced with actual pain this time. Robin moved so that he could throw his ineffectual weight against the flooring as well. She whimpered and it nearly sent him into a frenzy.

"I'm not mad," he said a little desperately. He could feel the floor sliding. "I was an idiot and didn't think through what I was asking from you. Come on, Star, you've got to push. Raven's on her way. Just hang on a little longer."

"We are still...friends?" He voice was meek. Robin gaped at her. abandoning the floor altogether, he leaned down so that their faces were very close together. They were so close he suspected she could see the blue of his eyes through his mask.

"The only way we could stop being friends is if you give up now and let this building crush you. We are Titans. Giving up is not an option, not in battle, and not on our friends, understand?" His voice was strong and confident, urging her to feel the same. Green eyes bore into blue. For a moment she looked dazed, then her nose wrinkled and she growled deep in her throat.

"I understand!"

The muscles of her upper body bunched. The pupils of her eyes blazed with green fire, and Robin leapt back as the entire slab of concrete rose.

"Whoa!" Robin whipped around to see Cyborg and Beast Boy sprinting toward them. Robin backed out of the way as a green gorilla took up space on her left and Cyborg took hold of the floor from her right. When it was lifted just high enough for her to slide free, Starfire glided out from beneath it. Raven's black energy guided the floor to the ground so that the boys didn't crush their toes. Starfire whirled in mid-air and threw herself at Robin. Automatically, his arms rose to wrap around her as well, but his face burned at the feel of her body pressed so nicely against his own.

"The Gordanians are behind this," she whispered in his ear. His whole body went rigid.

"What?"

"I located one of their monitoring devices. When I tried to retrieve it, the floor..." She trailed off. "We must go after them. This cannot go unpunished!"

"You mean those big ugly green guys are back?" asked Beast Boy. Everyone turned to look at him. His ears drooped slightly.

"Hey, being green doesn't make you ugly." His feelings were genuinely hurt.

"Right... because chicks dig the ears," said Raven with an utterly straight face. He perked up at once and waggled them at her. Raven rolled her eyes.

"I fear what they are planning. We must stop them!" Starfire pulled back to look into Robin's eyes searchingly. His hands tightened against her shoulder blades, simultaneously drawing her back against him and conveying his conviction.

"They won't get away with this. Not if we have anything to say about it."


	9. Chapter 9

Robin pushed open the door to the Tower rooftop. Late afternoon sunlight nearly blinded him and he held up a hand to deflect most of the rays. The long shadow cast by the air conditioning unit stretched like a runway leading to the two Titans standing-or in Starfire's case hovering-close together. Cyborg lifted his arm where high-pitched beeping sounds emitted in a steady pattern.

"Nothing yet, but we'll find them," he said firmly. Starfire turned her face to the sky. Scarlet ringlets spilled from a low bun just behind her left ear over her shoulder. Her fists emitted a soft battle glow, completely at odds with the evening gown she wore.

"Perhaps if I searched-"

"Oh no you don't," said Cyborg before she could even finish her thought. "Don't even think about trying to take these guys on by yourself." She deflated slightly.

"But-"

"But nothing. We're all in this together."

Cyborg put his free hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture that instantly brought out a smile. Robin felt a stab of jealousy. How did Cyborg always know the right thing to say or do? The others were quickly looking to him like an older brother, and even Raven would grace him with an odd smile every now and then.

Starfire turned and saw Robin standing there.

"Is it time?" Rather the excitement he expected from her, she cast a dejected look to the sky. Cyborg discreetly slid his hand off her shoulder.

"There's no sign of anything out of the ordinary, but to be honest my programs weren't designed to have the kind of range we need. It's hard to say how accurate my readings even are." He was underestimating himself. It was a strange habit he had, selling his tech short whenever he had to announce findings from the software he'd designed himself.

"I agree with Starfire that we're going to need to take a closer look. I uh...called in a favor and had Batman send over one of his unfinished Bat-planes. He just emailed me the blueprints. I think with a few modifications we could adapt it into a space craft." Robin scratched the back of his neck, feeling strangely uncertain. Cyborg's brown eye widened.

"We're going to build a spaceship?"

"Between the three of us I think we can figure it out." Robin folded his arms over his chest reflexively. If they weren't up to it then he couldn't force the issue, but Starfire's knowledge of alien technology mixed with Cyborg's superhuman understanding of quantum mechanics and mechanical engineering would make short work of the blueprints Batman had sent over.

"After the banquet, we can sit down and look at the plans and se what you think."

Cyborg still looked stunned. He ran a hand down his face and shook his head dazedly.

"Yea...sounds good. Actually, l can take a quick look and have something to think over during the banquet." Robin hid his smile As he told Cyborg where he'd left the blueprints. Without another word, Cyborg strode past him, leaving Robin and Starfire alone on the roof. She turned her back on him to gaze up at the sky once more. Her shoulders hunched with worry.

"We'll find them," said Robin firmly.

"It feels wrong to give up the search for something as trivial as a banquet in our honor."

"We're not giving up, Starfire. We'll beat these aliens just like we did last time, but if we don't go to the Mayor's party it will be a public insult I don't think we'd be able to live down. It doesn't seem like it now, but this is important too. We need the city on our side."

"Yes, I understand," she said begrudgingly. "I just do not like the idea of Gordanians so close. You have no idea of the damage they are capable of inflicting." Her voice grew distant and her chin drooped as memories clouded her eyes. A shiver ran down Robin's spine. He didn't ask.

The mayor sent a limo for them, giving no thought to the comfort of its passengers. Cyborg tried unsuccessfully not to take up an entire bench with his broad shoulders, and both he and Starfire were in danger of hitting their heads on the low roof at every pothole.

"Man, I can't believe you talked me into this," Cyborg muttered, looking down at his custom navy dress slacks and vest that he wore over a long-sleeved white collard shirt. His silk tie was in various shades of blue, gray, and platinum. He cut an impressive figure. Even with the robotic portion of his face still on display he looked cool.

"You? Look at me! I look like a bellhop." Beast Boy waved his hands at the plum-colored dinner jacket and slim-fitting black dress pants he wore over a white shirt. He plucked at the long skinny black tie he wore with obvious distaste. Robin cracked his knuckles.

"You both look fine," he sighed wearily. He was more than a little put out by their complaining after he had personally purchased the clothes out of his own bank account. Every head swiveled in his direction in varying shades of disbelief.

"Dude, how can you even talk? You look like James Bond," whined Beast Boy. Robin hid a smirk. Well he did have on a Brioni tuxedo. Unlike the others, his was just something he'd pulled out of his closet.

"Yea man, how can you even afford something like that?" Cyborg asked suspiciously.

"Undercover mission with Batman," he lied simply. Well, it wasn't a true lie. Every time he went to a Wayne function as Dick Grayson it always felt like he was going undercover to keep the bad guys from figuring out his true identity.

"You look most dashing, Robin," said Starfire. Her voice became a little breathy and he focused his attention on his hands to keep from letting that affect his ego. Starfire of course looked stunning in the gown they had commissioned. Despite the destruction at the mall the dress store had personally called to make certain her purchase had not been damaged and to offer a replacement if it had. Raven, in contrast to everyone else, had merely opted to leave her cloak behind but to still wear her priestess robes. It was a little strange to see so much of her bare shoulders and face without the cowl concealing everything in shadows, but she looked every bit as lovely as Starfire in her own way.

"We're almost there," Robin said as he caught a glimpse of camera flashes out of his peripheral vision through the tinted glass. Beast Boy puffed out his chest eagerly while Cyborg let out a sigh. The girls were unruffled. In fact, Robin was surprised at how few questions Starfire had. Then again she had been extremely preoccupied lately, and he knew her heart wasn't in this appearance.

The door to the limo pulled open and flash bulbs went off like fireworks. Robin climbed out first, drawing a gasp of appreciation from the fan girls crowding the edge of the red carpet that had been rolled out. Ignoring the squeals, he reached in and helped Starfire out next. The cameras went wild, zeroing in on their clasped hands and the slightly protective stance he took in front of her. Starfire tensed under the onslaught of the paparazzi.

"Smile," whispered Robin in her ear as he moved her out of the way so that Beast Boy could emerge and pull Raven out with him. There was an awkward lull when Cyborg emerged as those reporters nearest him got a good look at his red eye scanning the crowd.

"Come on," said Robin, frowning. Cyborg looked straight ahead, ignoring the fingers pointed at him. Raven moved back to walk beside him, not shy about warning off comments with her flat, emotionless stare. Beast Boy practically tripped over himself to take pictures with his fans. He signed twelve autographs, shifted four times, and posed wildly for the cameras before Robin caught him by the back of his jacket and pulled him away.

The Mayor and his wife were waiting for them just beside the front door. Both were dressed to the hilt, but Robin noticed how the Mayor's eyes deflated when he saw the expensive cut of his suit. Side by side they looked extremely mismatched. His plump wife, who had assuaged herself into a low-cut, lime green, sequined monstrosity openly scowled at Starfire's flowing gown that played up on her sculpted physique.

"We are so glad you could make it," said the Mayor over-brightly to cover his wife's blunder.

"Thank you for having us," said Starfire before Robin could speak. "You have obviously gone to great effort, and we are pleased to attend." She bent at the waist in a curious bow. Robin caught her elbow to stop her, in part to save her from making a mistake, and partly because he knew the view bending forward would give the Mayor. His wife, on the other hand, seemed pleased by the gesture, as if Starfire had somehow deferred to her superiority.

"Please, come in. There are many guests eager to meet you."

A receiving line had formed. Robin led the way, holding onto Starfire's hand to keep her from bowing or curtsying or kissing anyone's ring. The guests were simply city officials. They were the same crowd he met during charity functions in Gotham. The very same. In fact...

"Robin, I would like to introduce you and your team to one the city's highest backers. Mr. Wayne...?"

Robin simply stopped walking as Bruce Wayne turned from the giggling brunette on his arm to look at him. Masked eyes glared into unmasked steel blue. Anger and bitterness came together in a hard lump in his stomach. He wanted to turn and walk away. He wanted nothing to do with Bruce.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wayne," said Starfire pleasantly. She did another of her bows. Bruce's eyebrow arched as he looked her over. To the outside world he looked speculative, as if he were comparing her to the beauty on his own arm, but Robin knew better. Bruce didn't like what he was seeing. It only spiked Robin's anger further.

Without comment, he marched straight past Bruce into the banquet hall. An enormous crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, glittering with the light from the candles decorating the tables below. A large table with name cards greeted them. Again, Robin drew up short. It gave the Mayor time to catch up with him. He was not happy.

"Mr. Wayne is an honored guest. I will not have you insult him-"

"We have a history. He'll get over it. He probably already is. Why aren't the Titans seated together?" His tone was curt, drawing the mayor up short.

"This evening is to give the people of Jump City a chance to get to know our new heroes." Robin bit the inside of his cheek to keep from growling in frustration. Maybe if he hadn't thrown such a tantrum with Bruce the Mayor would be more willing to appease him, but a billionaire was a whole lot more valuable an asset to keep happy than a group of teenagers.

Starfire was seated with the Mayor and his wife, Cyborg was grouped with law enforcement, Raven with the doctors and medical supporters, Beast Boy with Parks and Rec personel, and Robin was of course seated squarely next to Bruce.

"How are you liking Jump so far?"

"Don't talk to me," muttered Robin out of the corner of his mouth. The brunette gasped at his rudeness.

"You team is...diverse," Bruce continued, undeterred. Robin gritted his teeth. "What is the criteria for membership? How well can you fill out a leotard?" Robin's head snapped around so fast he felt something pop. Bruce was smirking, pleased to get a rise out of him.

"I'm interested in anyone who can and is willing to help," he said tensely.

"That's a pretty broad spectrum. Have you thought of recruiting other sidekicks to join you?" Robin bristled at the term he hated so much. "According to the papers Flash and Kid Flash recently had a falling out. I'm sure you could find a use for him on your team. Robin brooded. He knew Bruce was telling him something important-he just didn't know what.

"If you know where I can find Kid Flash maybe I'll send him a recruitment letter," he said drily as their salads arrived. Bruce shrugged, feeding a crouton to his date.

"According to the papers, Kid Flash has gone missing. I'm surprised you're not already aware of that." The not-so-subtle critique made Robin's jaw clench.

At the next table, Cyborg sat in uncomfortable silence as his four table mates openly stared at him. When his salad arrived he ate with his eyes on his food.

"Are you able to make repairs on yourself, or do you have a personal mechanic," asked a bold, slightly tipsy middle-aged man across from him. The fork dropped from Cyborg's hand. "I mean, you're just a kid. Do you understand all that stuff or do you have to see a specialist."

"Not many half-robot specialists out there, are there?" Said Cyborg stiffly. The man shrugged.

"Well with prosthetics coming along as far as they have recently, there's bound to be a few. Have you ever considered getting some fake skin?" Around the table the other guests looked uncomfortable. Cyborg lifted his right hand and unbuttoned his cuff to reveal more hardware. He rolled up his sleeve to his elbow, and a moment later his forearm morphed into a small cannon. He lifted the weapon up for inspection, twisting it so the wires and metal plates were on full display. A smug smile twisted his mouth as the guy paled with amazement.

"Nah. It wouldn't look as cool."


	10. Chapter 10

Dinner was served, and at five separate tables the Teen Titans experienced increasing anxiety. Beast Boy tugged on the collar of his dress shirt anxiously as he watched the waiters approaching their table. The scent of seared meat hit his sensitive nostrils and he groaned inwardly.

"What does it feel like when you change forms?" asked the gray-haired woman to his right who had identified herself as April Stiles.

"Uh..." it was hard to concentrate on the question when he was distracted by the entrees coming their way. He plucked at his collar again. The first plate reached their table and Beast Boy's stomach lurched. Veal.

"Yes, how does it work?" chimed in the Chairman of the Jump City zoo. "Can you turn into any animal or just ones that you've seen before? Can you do insects? Can you communicate with the animals? My friends in the research facility would be ecstatic if you cared to share any personal insights you have that could benefit their research." He finished his statement by stuffing a large hunk of veal into his mouth. Beast Boy tipped his chair onto its hind legs in an effort to put distance between himself and the chairman.

"Um, excuse me," he whispered to a passing waiter, "Is there a vegetarian menu?"

"Can you control other animals?" The chairman spoke around a mouthful of food, staring pointedly until Beast Boy mustered up an answer.

"Animals don't think the same way people do. They rely on their instincts. Even the ones that follow an alpha won't listen if it goes against their survival instincts. They can't be called in to fight battles that have nothing to do with them. Um...ew!"

An extra-large plate of veal was set down in front of him. The smell of meat roused the instincts of the predatory animals in him while simultaneously sparking the flight response of all of the prey. He wrinkled his nose to fight for control. He pushed the plate back at the waiter.

"I'll just have a salad."

"Really, you're a vegetarian? I'd have thought a boy who could turn into a wolf would jump at the chance to chow down on some baby cow." Almost tauntingly, the chairman took another bite. Beast Boy's eyes followed his fork to his mouth sadly.

"Not when I can turn into a calf too," he said weakly.

Awkward silence fell on the table while the waiter ducked his shoulders and quickly disappeared to find something more animal-friendly.

The waves of embarrassment radiating from Beast Boy had Raven gritting her teeth against her empathic abilities. No one at her table spoke. They stared with open fascination at the gray-skinned girl, but they were all too terrified to make the first move in starting a conversation. It wasn't helping. Raven glanced over her shoulder as Beast Boy's waiter brought him a salad loaded with enough lettuce to feed a herd of cattle. Relief broke over him in a wave, likewise releasing her from the tight coil of his emotions.

"So what can you do?" blurted out the youngest person at the table, a twenty-something young man with freckles and protruding ears. Raven arched a brow and he withered into embarrassed silence again. Sighing, she looked around for her teammates, wondering how much longer they would have to endure this painful and pointless exercise of her patience. Now that he had food, Beast Boy was trying and failing to amuse his dinner companions by morphing into a green sheep. Raven pinched the bridge of her nose and turned to check on Cyborg. He was deeply engrossed in a debate about whether or not the police should have access to weaponry capable of incapacitating superheroes. He seemed happier. Robin looked more irritable than Raven had yet seen him, and she guessed it had something to do with the dark haired man to his left. Even from across the room Raven detected something _off _about the man. Not dangerous...not exactly...just controlled-extremely. Considering how many companies he owned, it didn't surprise her to find that Bruce Wayne was a control freak, but the sheer strength of his control surprised and impressed her.

The familiar bubble of Starfire's emotions touched the fringes of her senses. The alien princess usually projected so strongly that Raven was constantly aware of her, and the dampened effect was enough to draw Raven's attention to the Mayor's table.

Starfire looked as regal as a queen beside Mayor Collins and his wife. Her strength, beauty, and poise were undeniable, but with such a limited grasp on earthen fine dining customs, she was quickly growing flustered. Mrs. Collins made no move to help her navigate the arrangement of cutlery in front of her, but was quick to sigh with impatience as Starfire picked up the steak knife to butter her bread, wound up sawing it in half, and sprayed breadcrumbs across the white tablecloth.

"My apologies," said Starfire, blushing.

"There's no need to apologize. It happens to me all the time," reassured the mayor quickly, beaming at her so that all of his front teeth were visible. His wife stamped down hard on his foot, making the table jump.

"My husband tells me that you were the cause of that alien invasion attempt a few weeks ago. Jump City was nearly destroyed and yet now we are hosting a feast in your honor. And they complain about the immigration policies..." Mrs. Collins huffed. The rest of the table instantly fell silent. Starfire blinked. Having no real knowledge of the politics the lady referenced, but aware that she was being insulted in some manner, she wilted and glanced around the room frantically for a change of subject.

"The Titans are grateful that Jump City has welcomed us with open arms..." She began bravely.

"You didn't give us much choice when you led those monster straight to our door," muttered Mrs. Collins. Her husband put a hand on her elbow, frowning. Starfire lifted her chin.

"You may not have had a choice in facing the attack, but we made the choice to defend you from the threat. On my planet we respect those who act in favor of those they owe no allegiance to." The coolness in Starfire's tone was a clear warning, one that Mrs. Collins didn't like at all, but with her husband's restraining hand on her arm she swallowed her retort with all the joy of swallowing a ripe lemon whole.

"And Jump City does respect what the Titans have done. Twice now disaster has struck and the Titans have been there to save the day. The damage at the mall would have been much worse if you had not been there. I'm glad we've got you in our corner." He winked conspiratorially, but Starfire merely cocked her head and looked around.

"But we are in the center of the room...?"

Mrs. Collins barked with rude laughter, and Starfire's tongue shriveled with humiliation. Instinctively she looked around for Robin. He would have explained the phrase to her. He would tell her how to deal with this woman who was determined to hate her.

He was looking in her direction through narrowed eyes. Mrs. Collins' laugh had drawn his attention and Starfire's uncertain posture had him on his feet before Bruce could growl out a warning. When she saw him walking their way Mrs. Collins fluffed herself up and plastered a beaming smile on her face.

"Robin! How good of you to join us. I've just been dying to meet you."

"I'm sure," he said flatly, taking up a protective position behind Starfire's chair. The move didn't go unnoticed by anyone watching. A tick appeared in Mrs. Collins' jaw when she realized that her charms were lost on the Boy Wonder.

"Perhaps you would care to shed some light on the immigration issues plaguing this country. They seem to let just about anyone in these days." Her eyes dipped pointedly to the red-haired alien seated across from her.

Robin's hand clenched on the back of Starfire's chair, and all the air in the room seemed to drop several degrees. No one said a word. Mayor Collins was too stunned by his wife's outrageous behavior to even begin apologizing, the onlookers were eagerly awaiting the young leader's next move, and the Titans held their breath as they anticipated an order.

Five communicators went off simultaneously. Still scowling, Robin met the eyes of his teammates and jerked his head toward the doors. No one needed to be told twice. Beast Boy bounded for the exit while Raven and Cyborg rose regally from their seats. Starfire attempted to apologize and thank their hosts at the same time, but as she rambled animatedly through her smile, she realized it was a lost cause and quickly fled the room ahead of Robin, who remained only a moment to fix the Mayor and his wife with one last glare.

"Talk about saved by the bell," muttered Cyborg once they were all walking through the marble hallway to the front doors.

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Robin darkly, holding up his communicator to show them the crime in progress. A department store on fifth street was in flames. It would take ten minutes to get there by car and the T-car was still at the tower.

"Raven, you go on ahead. You'll get there fastest. The rest of us will catch up." Robin stripped off his dinner jacket as he spoke and slung it over his shoulder. Before it could slap against his back, a hand snagged it out of his grasp. They whirled to see Bruce Wayne standing behind them.

"Dude! Where did you even come from?" complained Beast Boy, clutching dramatically at his chest. Bruce ignored him, focusing on Robin.

"I thought I would offer the use of my car. I doubt the city's chauffeur will be able to drive that limo anywhere near the accident site." Before Robin could accept or deny the offer, Bruce tossed him his keys. Cyborg's mouth dropped open as he spied the Lamborghini insignia on the keychain.

"You're going to let us drive a _Lamborghini_ to a crime? You're not afraid we might scratch the paint?"

"If you do my insurance company knows every loophole for damages attained through superhero activities ever conceived. I'm happy to be of service." He shrugged and walked back into the dining hall. Robin scowled after him. Cyborg stared at the keys in his hand as though they were the Holy Grail.

"Don't even think about it. I'm driving," said Robin. "Let's go."

By the time they reached the store the fire department had already arrived. Raven had gone along ahead and used her powers to prevent the flames from spreading, but if anyone was still inside then there would be no rescuing them. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy aided the firefighters with putting out the flames, but Starfire stayed with the ambulances, trying to reassure the injured that everything was alright. In the midst of the chaos her soft voice was soothing.

"You've got to find her! Please, she's still in there!" A young teenager with vivid purple streaks in her blond hair tugged desperately at Starfire's arm. Momentarily distracted by the strange colors of her hair unlike anything else Starfire had seen since she'd come to the planet, the girl had to repeat her message. Compassion filled Starfire's body.

"I am afraid there is nothing more we can do..."

"No! You don't understand! She would have found a way. She'd never get trapped in a fire like that. Jinx!" Sadly, Starfire watched the girl go, calling for her friend. Her heart grew heavier. Yet another innocent life they had not been able to save.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Back from vacation and back to my computer. I intend to have more regular updates now. Fingers crossed that life plays nice so I can stick to my plan. **

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Robin sat in front of his laptop still dressed in his soot-stained white dress-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The soft blue glow of the computer screen illuminated his face as he scrolled through various headlines from around the globe. Ever since Batman had taken him under his wing and introduced the idea of teenaged superheroes to the world, the world had been on high-alert for more supernaturally gifted teens. The irony that the powerless acrobat had been the one to open the doors for the superhuman powerhouses wasn't lost on Robin. There were stories everywhere, if you knew where to look for them. Kids surviving fatal accidents… people miraculously healing from wounds and illnesses that should have killed them… freak accidents that led to incredible mutations… Naturally not every kid with over-developed abilities became a crime-fighter, but they still got noticed for being something _more. _The Justice League in particular kept an eye on potential members. That was how Flash had found Kid Flash, Green Arrow ended up with Speedy, and Aquaman recruited Aqualad. Even Wonder Woman was considering taking on a protégé. Rumor had it she was going to go by the name Wonder Girl—so far Robin and Speedy were the only two to escape sidekick shoot-off syndrome when it came to their superhero names. Considering Bruce's lack of creativity in the naming department Robin knew he'd skipped a bullet at having to strike fear into criminal hearts as Batboy.

After tapping a few keys, Robin linked into the Justice League database. Each of the sidekicks—himself included—was closely monitored. That chaffed, but even he could understand the necessity. Teenagers were an unpredictable bunch, and considering that the Titans operated without any adult supervision, it was a wonder the Justice League didn't have a permanent stakeout stationed somewhere on Titan Island. It had only been a few weeks and Robin could already smell the impending drama that would ensue once everyone got comfortable with each other. Cyborg and Beast Boy hadn't quite worked up the nerve to test her yet, but it was obvious that they would eventually take great joy in pushing Raven's buttons. Starfire posed more problems than he even cared to entertain, what with her choice of uniform and her love of physical displays of affection. He groaned out loud at the prospect of either girl going out on a date. Immediate protective instincts roared to life. Maybe the no-dating rule should be a Titan-wide mandate. No, he reasoned. There was no need to give them more reasons to resent him.

Kid Flash's name appeared on his screen. He clicked on it to find out the speedster's last known location. _Los Angeles. Two weeks ago._ Two weeks? Both the Flash and his sidekick were fond of making their presence known to the world. Barry rarely went two days without doing something outrageous to remind the public that he was around, and Flash liked to test his speed by zigzagging across America to stop crimes on opposite sides of the continental U.S. For him to go two weeks without answering an alert or checking in with Barry wasn't like him.

As members of the side-kick club, Robin and Kid-Flash had met several years ago. Next to Barbara Gordon, Wally West was one of the few friends Dick actually had. While Wally was a fast talker who liked to run his mouth, he and Dick were pretty similar in their determination to live up to the standards set by their mentors. Wally just lucked out that he had Flash to live up to rather than the Batman. Flash at least had a sense of humor.

Robin clicked on the link beside Aqualad's name. He'd never really had a chance to meet Aquaman's apprentice. There weren't any oceans bordering Gotham City, so there wasn't any real reason for Batman and Aquaman to team up. Still, Arthur Curry was fairly serious, being the leader of Atlantis and all. Robin couldn't picture him taking just anyone under his wing—er—fin. According to the database, the last sighting of Aqualad hadn't been for over a week and a half. The same went for Speedy, but Robin was less certain about that one being out of the ordinary. The relationship between Green Arrow and his sidekick was probably more explosive that Robin's relationship with Batman. He and Speedy were always having it out with one another, and from what Robin heard, Speedy would go weeks without speaking to Green Arrow. Still, that was three high-profile side-kicks all MIA. It wasn't much to go on, but it was a lead. Excited by the prospect of a case, Robin started to get up from his chair when the yellow communicator sitting on the edge of his desk beeped. Thinking that it was one of the Titans, he was surprised and disgruntled to see Bruce scowling at him from what appeared to be his Jump City penthouse. He'd managed to hack into the network using his smartphone. Robin rolled his eyes.

"What did you think you were doing, Dick?"

"I don't have time for this," Robin said impatiently, moving his finger to end the transmission.

"It's going to be all over the papers tomorrow. 'Robin Falls for Female Titan.' You practically posed for the front page when you stormed over to her rescue." Bruce's voice dripped disdain. Robin's hand clenched around the communicator.

"That woman was insulting her and she didn't even realize it. You would have done the same thing if it was Diana."

"Diana is more than capable of fighting her own battles."

"I would have done the same for any of them," Robin said through gritted teeth. Bruce shook his head.

"Not true. Every single one of your 'friends' was facing the same difficulties as the alien and you didn't even notice. Some woman with a fake tan and bad highlights insults your girlfriend and you're ready to throw everything you've worked to build under the bus just to impress her. I've warned you what would happen if you fall for a teammate. It impairs your judgment. Starting a relationship will only create a weakness you can't afford."

"Who said anything about starting a relationship?" said Robin, his face suddenly hot. Bruce narrowed his eyes and continued to shake his head patronizingly.

"She's way out of your league, Dick. A girl like that will break your heart and stomp on it. You'd be better off with Batgirl than that—"

"This conversation is over. Starfire is my teammate, and I was only looking out for her. Thanks for the tip off about Kid Flash and for letting us borrow your car. I'll have it back at your penthouse tomorrow morning."

"Look at you trying to act like a grown-up—thanking me and everything." Robin's teeth came together again with an audible click.

"Goodbye, Bruce."

"Robin, I'm serious about the alien. If you fall for her you will regret it for the rest of your life."

Robin clicked off the communicator and Bruce's face faded to black. As if he had time for relationships anyway. Bruce was so _paranoid_. It didn't help that Bruce was innately wary of all things alien. Robin hadn't missed that little suggestion that Batgirl would be a more acceptable alternative, namely because she was human and already Bat-approved. It was strange to hear Bruce give his approval for the idea of him dating Batgirl when he had been just as adamantly against it due to the no-dating-teammates rule before as he was now. Of course, now that Robin wasn't under Batman's wing, Batgirl wasn't technically his teammate anymore, but what the heck difference did that make? According to Batman logic it didn't matter whether he was dating a powerhouse like Wonder Woman or a thrill-seeking danger-magnet like Lois Lane she was still going to be his weakest link. It seemed contradictory that Bruce would prefer the female who could be hurt much more easily and was therefore more vulnerable to an enemy's attack, and _wait_, why was he still thinking about this...? He shook his head, focusing on the important matter at hand.

"Cyborg, I want you to compile a list of all meta-humans in Jump City," Robin said the moment he stepped through the sliding doors into the common room. He had changed into his uniform once more. Dressed in red, black, and yellow he felt more like himself than he had all night. Beast Boy and Cyborg were sitting on the couch playing the Gamestation. Cyborg paused the game and swiveled his head to look at him with faint surprise.

"Sure, but why?"

"I want to cross-reference it with the most recent missing persons list."

Cyborg immediately dropped his controller to head over to the keyboard that hooked up to the wall-sized monitor. His fingers performed a tap dance across the keys while Robin took the empty seat beside him and began running his own check of unexplained incidences to have occurred since Titans Tower had officially opened.

"Uh, what are you looking for?" asked Beast Boy hesitantly, as though he was afraid Robin would make fun of him for asking a stupid question. Compared to what usually came out of his mouth, Robin was only too happy to answer an intelligent question.

"Starfire believes the Gordanians are back. I thinks so too, but I don't think it's us they're after," said Robin absent-mindedly as he scrolled through police files and case reports.

"You think they're going after meta-humans," Raven said, getting up from the end of the couch where she had been reading a book. Her priestess robes swirled around her feet as she glided closer.

"I would put money on it," he said firmly. "I just don't know why."

"Have you talked to Starfire about it?" Cyborg suggested. He was nodding slightly as he processed Robin's theory. "Maybe she could shed some light on it." For the first time, Robin noticed that the red-head wasn't in the room. He'd been too focused on getting to the bottom of the mystery to register her absence. Automatically, he glanced at Raven, who shrugged.

"She came home and went straight to her room. She was upset about something." Robin flinched, but with the conversation with Bruce so fresh in his mind, he didn't dare give into the instinct to ask why she was upset. Instead, he shrugged.

"I'll ask her in the morning once we've gathered more intel to go on."


	12. Chapter 12

It was nearly two in the morning when Cyborg said that he needed to recharge his batteries for the day. Robin waved him off to his room, still fully engrossed in his research. There had been a surge in missing persons, and of those missing there were several that were registered meta-humans. Among those listed was Ethan, the little boy he and Starfire had met at the mall. He was a registered teleporter. According to his notes he couldn't teleport very far or very quickly, but his mother had been forced to register the ability in accordance with the new child are laws regarding super powered clientele. All babysitters had to be aware of the potential hazards associated with their charge. Too many date nights had ended with the parents coming home to hysterical sitters who'd had no idea of what they were dealing with.

_ Starfire will be glad to hear there's a chance he might still be alive, _he thought. At the thought of her, Robin remembered that he hadn't seen her since they'd returned from the fire. As Bruce's Lamborghini was too cramped for all five Titans to fit, she'd flown home alone, and according to Raven had holed herself up in her room. Robin glanced at his watch. She would be asleep by now. What with trying to adapt the blueprints for space travel and checking out potential leads, he would need a good night's sleep before tomorrow. He stretched his arms out behind him until his vertebrae gave a satisfying pop.

"Why do you push yourself so hard?" asked Raven from behind him. She'd been so quiet the past hour or so that Robin had suspected she'd fallen asleep. Beast Boy was curled up on the couch's armrest beside her as a small green kitten.

"Crime doesn't rest, so why should I?" He grimaced, hated how much like Batman that had sounded. Raven regarded him seriously across the short distance. He had the disconcerting feeling she was looking inside him, and he quickly broke eye contact. She shifted in her seat.

"You don't have to be a hero all the time. We all know you're only human." He grimaced, hating that she had chosen that phrase. One corner of her mouth lifted, as if she were reading his thoughts. Robin cast around for an explanation to make her understand. He waved vaguely at the tower.

"What we're doing here has never been done before. Our team could give kids like these hope that they can grow up and make a difference." He waved his hand at the computer screen where Ethan's information was still pulled up. "When I was with Batman I thought I'd never measure up to him. He's the Batman, and I was just his sidekick. Now I'm out of his shadow and the world sees me-sees us-as heroes. Even if dinner didn't go the way we'd hoped, we still had the most powerful men and women in the city trying to win us over."

"So is it just about the glory?" asked Raven, curling her knees up beneath her. Robin shook his head fervently.

"I got over that when I was twelve. That fire tonight wasn't glorious. All those people counting on us are a responsibility. I will not let them down."

"You talk about you, but what about us?" Raven yawned. "This is not just a one person army."

"You are my team. It's my job to give you every tool that you need to be the heroes Jump City needs us to be. You won't always like me for it, but I will do whatever I think is best for the Titans."

"And what if what's best is for you to show a little vulnerability?" she said softly. Robin blinked. Raven smiled again. "Your reputation precedes you, Robin. You don't have to show off how smart or fit or experienced you are to get the others to like you. The more you try to live up to your own legend the farther you push the others away-especially Cyborg."

"I'm not-"

"Yes you are. You are so desperate to impress him that you don't even see that you've already intimidated him. In his mind he'll never physically be able to keep up with you. You'll always be faster, more agile, and stealthier. He prides himself on his knowledge of software and mechanics, and you can keep up with him there too. The more you try to pretend you have no weaknesses the more useless he feels."

Robin sat in dumb silence, absorbing her counsel. He felt like an ass. He could see everything through the lens she had just shown him and it all made perfect sense.

"What about you? You don't make much effort to make friends."

"I do not have the luxury of sharing my feelings openly. My powers are tied to my emotions and I must constantly keep them in check. It is difficult when I am around Starfire or Beast Boy." Robin grinned.

"Admit it, you like them though." His eyes landed on the green kitten next to her elbow. She shrugged with an air of indifference, but Robin guessed that she appreciated the others ability to be open with their feelings.

"Get some sleep, Raven. You're going to need it." She made a small face at the order, but obediently rose from the couch. A black tendril of magic scooped up the green kitten and carried him ahead of her through the air. Raven and Robin walked side by side toward the hallway with their rooms. Robin felt lighter after having talked with her. It was the first time he'd really spoken to her one on one, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that she had a personality beneath that navy cowl of hers.

They rounded the last corner when Raven froze, cocking her head toward Starfire's door. Robin was about to ask when he heard something shatter inside, followed by muffled sobbing. Suddenly alert, he glanced at Raven, but she was floating Beast Boy through his open door onto the top bunk of his bed.

"It will be best if you talk to her," she said softly, before phasing through her own door. Another crash made Robin flinch, and he walked up to her door. He hesitated before knocking. Through the door he heard Starfire gasp. She didn't come to the door. Robin sighed.

"Open the door, Starfire," he said, resting his fist against the metal panel above his head. A moment later the door slid open a crack and half of Starfire's face appeared. Her eye was swollen and red from crying, her orange skin puffy and mottled. She looked terrible.

"What's wrong?" He asked, shocked by the transformation that had taken place since he had last seen her. She still wore the evening gown, but it too looked bedraggled sand faded. Starfire slid the door open further to let him in and the swung away from him so that he couldn't see her face.

"I have made the fool of myself by staying here. Earth's ways are so different. I will never fit in. Tonight I embarrassed you in front of the Mayor and his wife. I should leave now before I bring any more shame to the Titans!" Robin bit the inside of his cheek against the instant denial at the thought of her leaving over something so silly. Quietly, he put his hand on her shoulder to spin her around.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Starfire. She was jealous of you, and she was just giving you a hard time."

"But I still do not understand the slang, I cannot comprehend the uses for the various cutlery, I do not know what is the appropriate greeting for persons of great political significance, and I do not like having to be rescued by you again and again. Surely you tire of it as well." Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. Robin gave her a half-smile and shrugged.

"I don't mind. You're still learning, Star, and for the record there are plenty of people who don't know the difference between a dinner fork and a salad fork. It's no big deal."

"It _is_ the big deal! I do not like being ridiculed!"

He wasn't sure which of them was more surprised when he reached out and pulled against him for a hug. After a slight hesitation, Starfire curled against him and began bawling into his shoulder. He patted her back while she cried, aware that she was upset about more than just the dinner. Eventually, her sobs subsided into sniffles and she pulled away.

"I miss my home," she admitted finally. Her green eyes looked up into his apologetically.

"I know you do. And I know it's hard starting over in a new place on your own. Sometimes all you want to do is throw everything away and go back to the life you had before even though you know that life is over. Trust me, I've been there." He exhaled slowly and then smiled into her face. "But you go on, and you meet new people who make your new life better, and before you know it this new place becomes home just as much as the old one was."

"It is true that I have known more kindness here than anywhere else," she admitted. Robin bit his tongue to keep from asking why she wanted to go back so badly if no one was nice to her on Tamaran. It didn't matter what home was like before. His life with Haley's Circus had been simple and sometimes his family struggled to make ends meet. Getting adopted by Bruce had propelled him into a life of royalty as Gotham's Prince. That didn't stop him from missing the circus. He knew it was the same with Starfire. Home was home, whatever it looked like.

"Tell me about Tamaran," he said quietly. Her eyes lit up like stars.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Edit. Rereading this I found a heaping pile of typos that I have corrected. That's what I get for posting way after my bedtime. I will make sure to proofread more thoroughly in the future. **

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Robin woke to the sounds of a shower running. He cracked open his eyes to blinding sunlight streaming through the window. His head hung over the side of the bed, and as he sat up he rotated his neck on his shoulders to ease the crick. Pink walls surrounded him and a sinking sensation settled in the pit of his stomach. He was still in Starfire's room. He had spent the night in Starfire's room! Panic surged through his brain just as the shower stopped running.

Robin was on his feet and halfway to the door when the door to the bathroom opened and Starfire stepped into the room. Robin went scarlet and quickly whirled to face the wall. The only towel she wore was wrapped around her hair.

"My apologies, Robin. I did not mean to wake you," she said calmly. Little tremors of nervous energy ran through him. Sweat collected in his palms. Starfire was standing behind him completely naked and she didn't have a clue what that was doing to him. His blood was in a turmoil, unsure whether to head north or south, but a substantial amount reached his face because he could feel the heat coming off of him.

"Uh, Starfire, would you get another towel?" His voice squeaked.

"Do you wish to do the showering as well?"

"No, I mean, would you put on another towel? It's um...not really appropriate for me to see you...like this." So many thoughts were going through his brain. _So many images that shouldn't be there. _There was no going back from this moment. He would never be able to unsee what she had so innocently revealed. In their talks about Tamaran he had learned that her people had no concept of modesty. This situation was nowhere near as awkward for her as it was for him. She didn't realize what she was doing to him. _Wait,_ on Tamaran nakedness wasn't as taboo as on Earth. There was a good possibility there were others who had seen her like this-_other guys. _An unexpected flare of jealousy spiked through him so fast that it startled him. In spite of himself he glanced over his shoulder-to see if she had put on the towel, he told himself. She hadn't moved. She was just standing there with her head canted to the side watching him with a perplexed expression on her face. His gaze dipped and then shot back to her eyes. _Focus, Robin, _he scolded himself. This was no time to be checking her out, not even when she was offering it so freely.

"I should um...go. I shouldn't be here..." He stumbled backwards toward the door. He grimaced, feeling the need to explain. "Starfire...on Earth it isn't really appropriate for a man to see a woman without her clothes on unless they are..." His tongue tripped over the words. She blinked, awaiting his explanation, but Robin had no clue how to explain it. To say that they couldn't see each other naked unless they were in a relationship wasn't necessarily true. He didn't want to mislead her, even if it was for her own good. At the same time he didn't want her to think that she should just take her clothes off around anyone she felt comfortable with-that could be anyone.

"Does it embarrass you?" she guessed. Gulping, he nodded. Without a word she turned to go back into the bathroom and retrieve a second towel. He knew he should take the opportunity and flee, but his legs were rooted to the spot.

"Have I committed another transgression?"

"No," he said quickly to reassure her. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. If the others find out I was in here all night they might get the wrong idea."

"They will assume we have been intimate with each other." Chills raced up his spine at the images that phrase conjured. With a great force of will he pushed those thoughts aside.

"Right."

"Do not worry, I will not reveal it to them if you do not wish me to. Thank you for allowing me to share my culture with you."

"Sure thing," he said, giving her a two-fingered salute before he bolted for the door.

Cyborg and Beast Boy were carrying bowls of cereal into Cyborg's room just as the door to Starfire's room slid open.

Robin skidded to a halt. Cyborg's mouth formed a perfect 'O' while Beast Boy's eyes became round as saucers. Raven, drawn by the surge of shocked emotions, slid open her door to see what had happened and saw Robin standing stock still in front of Starfire's door, his hair standing up in all directions and his clothes disheveled from sleeping in them all night. Her violet eyes slid from one face to the next before she promptly turned on her heel and disappeared back into her room.

Not unexpectedly, Beast Boy was the first one to break the silence.

"Dude! You and Starfire-" but before he could complete his sentence, Cyborg put a hand out in front of his mouth. His human eye narrowed.

"So...what have you been up to?"

"This isn't what it looks like," said Robin immediately. His face was beet red again. This was definitely not the way he'd been planning for this morning to go. Sweat collected in his palms again as he saw a look of disbelief pass between the two boys.

"That's good, because it looks like you just spent the night with the hot alien chick," said Beast Boy, one eyebrow lifted slyly as he folded his arms across his chest. Even through the cloud of embarrassment Robin felt a stab of protective annoyance at Beast Boy's choice of description for Starfire. He was therefore satisfied when the changeling's smug move was ruined as he forgot that he had his bowl of cereal in his hand and poured it all down his left side. He eeped and jumped away. Cyborg burst into laughter, slapping his knee. Hope bubbled in Robin's chest that maybe they were distracted enough to let him slip away, but Cyborg turned his attention back to him, glanced at Starfire's room again, and his laughter died.

"Seriously though, you weren't in your room last night. I knocked on your door this morning at seven and you weren't in there."

"Why were you knocking on my door at seven?" asked Robin in a desperate attempt to change the subject that was way too obvious to work.

"I had some ideas about those blueprints, but they can wait. Man, we're going to have some serious problems if you've been taking advantage of our baby girl. I may not be able to take you but you're sure not going to feel good after I get done trying." He cracked his metallic knuckles against the palm of his other hand. Robin was fairly certain that he could take the titan, even the two of them put together, but it wasn't a fight he wanted to have. He gulped and held up his hands in surrender.

"We were just talking," he said in a halting voice. "She was telling me about Tamaran and I just sort of fell asleep." Another look passed between the two.

"Well I guess I can't blame you for that," said Cyborg slowly. "She tried telling me their Seven Stanzas of Serenity and she nearly put me out too." He drew himself upright and looked down his nose at Robin, who cringed under that suspicious look. He felt awful about breaching the code of conduct he had put in place for all of them. They were teenagers. The boys had no business in the girls' rooms. "You want me to believe that you and Starfire were in a bed together all night and all you did was sleep?" Cyborg sounded highly skeptical as he leaned into Robin's personal space to look him square in the eye. Robin lifted his chin.

"Nothing happened," he said firmly.

Cyborg burst into laughter.

"Dude relax," he said, punching Robin in the shoulder hard enough to shift him back a step. "We all know you're way too uptight to let anything happen between you and Starfire." He dropped his voice just in case the girls were listening at their doors. "But you can't tell me you don't wish that it had." He elbowed Robin slyly in the ribs, winding him. Beast Boy laughed a hysterical hyena-like laugh.

"Did you see his face?"

"Not cool, guys," said Robin, rubbing his hand over his face, aware that his face was still red with embarrassment. Cyborg and Beast Boy kept laughing as they returned to the kitchen to refill Beast Boy's spilled cereal bowl. Robin slunk off to his bedroom. Once the door was safely shut behind him, he leaned his head against the metal panel. He'd never been a morning person. For the past three years after prowling the streets of Gotham at night, morning had been his least favorite time of the day. But despite the embarrassment of being caught by Beast Boy and Cyborg, it was a morning he had no intention of forgetting any time soon.

All night long Cyborg's systems had been scanning the blueprints into his internal database. After Robin emerged from a long cold shower, he met up with the boys in Cyborg's room where they were watching the latest set of fan videos of the Titans. Around his cereal, Cyborg offered up his theories on how to modify the designs of what he called the T-ship to be a spacecraft. Beast Boy's eyes almost instantly glazed over at the mention of fuel lines and energy boosters. Even Robin was impressed by Cyborg's understanding of mechanics that went above and beyond his own. At first, briefly, it gave him a feeling of inadequacy, and he wanted nothing more than to hole himself up in his room with books on applied and complex theorems of quantum mechanics until he knew as much as Cyborg, but then Raven's advice from the previous night filtered back to him. Let Cyborg have this one. He had to let his teammates play to their strengths so he could focus on his. And a small voice that sounded suspiciously like Bruce's whispered that even if he sat through doctorate-level courses on the subject Cyborg would always know more than he would about quantum mechanics.

"So you think you can do it?" he asked once Cyborg finished a particularly lengthy comparison of potential fuel sources. Cyborg tipped his cereal bowl into his mouth to drink the rest of the milk at the bottom before answering.

"I'll need some help, but I think it shouldn't be too hard. We're going to need parts though."

"Don't worry about parts. I've got that covered."

"Batman, right?"

"Something like that," Robin agreed vaguely. More like it was coming straight from Wayne Enterprises. "Give me a list and you'll have what you need by tomorrow."

"Alright."

Raven and Starfire were alone in the common room, an unusual occurrence. Raven took up her favorite spot at the end of the couch, a heavy leather-back tome in her lap. Starfire took up a spot by the window, pressing her nose against the glass. The Jump City bay stretched out before her. White crests could be seen due to the heavy winds coming in from the north. She sighed heavily.

"You're unusually calm," said Raven. For the first time since she'd met the alien the onslaught of emotions was as tranquil as a stream. Starfire blinked and turned around.

"Raven, is my behavior inappropriate?"

Raven winced. Knowing that she would get no reading done and knowing that as the only other girl in the tower it was her task to guide Starfire through the minefield of gender roles, she closed her book.

"For instance?"

"This morning when I finished with the shower I walked into the room to find Robin behaving most peculiarly."

"Robin was in your room while you were showering?" Raven thought back to the awkward scene she had encountered in the hallway outside their rooms. Robin's emotions had been in a turmoil of humiliation and elation mixed with a heavy dollop of guilt. "And when you walked back into your room what were you wearing?" She already knew the answer, but she needed to have it confirmed before she offered her advice. Truly, imagining Robin's reaction to facing a naked Starfire was humorous. She knew she wasn't the only one in the tower aware of their leader's obvious crush on Starfire, but she sensed just how strongly he was drawn to the alien.

"I wore nothing. I believed it was not necessary as I was within my own quarters and he and I had already spent the night together."

Raven twitched and a glass sitting on the kitchen island shattered as her shock spasmed out from under her control.

"You slept with Robin last night?" That couldn't be right. Surely she would have sensed if _that_ had taken place in the next room. Apart from a lightening in Starfire's melancholy there had been no surge of joy or excitement, and certainly nothing to imply that _that_ had been happening.

"Yes. He stayed with me because I was feeling sick for my home and he very kind listening to me tell stories about Tamaran and its people. I do not know how long we talked before we fell asleep. Oh-I forgot that I had promised not to reveal that he had been in my quarters. I believe he was embarrassed to find that he had remained with me during the night. Please Raven, have I done something wrong? How am I to know when my behavior is inappropriate? I do not wish to embarrass him. His face was such a strange shade of red."

_Was that before or after he saw you naked? _Raven wanted to ask, but she could tell that Starfire was genuinely concerned and she knew she wouldn't understand the sarcasm.

"Most humans don't have the confidence to show off their bodies to people they aren't intimate with, and those that do reveal more of themselves are usually given derogatory labels. Robin has a strong sense of morals, and for him it means something to spend the night with a girl, even if nothing happened. I think he's more afraid of what people will say about you than what they will think about him though. He's very protective of you."

"He is?"

"You haven't noticed?"

"I assumed he did the helping of me because he thought I did not understand Earth's ways. Does he have ulterior motives?" A sharper note crept into Starfire's tone, and a dark flicker of suspicion colored her aura. Raven lifted her brows, surprised that the abnormally sunny girl had a darker side.

"Robin is going through a difficult time right now. He's set himself some impossible goals and he's pushing himself to the breaking point trying to reach them."

"How may I assist him in reaching his goals?"

"Honestly, keep doing what you've been doing," said Raven with a small smile that Starfire couldn't see. "The sooner he comes to his senses the happier he'll be."

Starfire did not truly understand Raven's advice, but she pretended that she did and went back to staring out the window. In truth, Robin only occupied a small portion of her mind. The threat of the Gordanians still hung over the earth. She recalled that she, Robin, and Cyborg were supposed to work on building a viable spacecraft. She flew off in search of Cyborg, determined to put the confusion with Robin out of her mind and focus on the emergency at hand.

* * *

**A/N: I get a kick out of Robin's embarrassment, and I feel that the rest of the Titans do too. I think Raven would definitely push Robin and Starfire toward each other early because she would quickly lose patience with them dancing around their feelings and broadcasting their conflicted emotions at her for too long. But that's just my take on her character. Also, I promise there will be more action to come. **


	14. Chapter 14

Starfire knocked on the door to Cyborg's room after hearing several voices inside. Beast Boy and Cyborg exchanged a strange look that she didn't understand when they saw her before glancing at Robin, who was concentrating very hard on a large folded piece of blue paper with white writing on it.

"Are we ready to commence with the building of the ship?" she asked. Her voice wobbled with uncertainty as she picked up on the undercurrent of teasing in the air. Naturally she thought it was directed at her and it made her uncomfortable. When the smile fell off her face and she wrapped her arms uncertainly around herself, Robin finally straightened and frowned at the other two.

"Sure. Why don't you and Cyborg go down to the garage and see what you can get done for now. I've got a list of parts I need to order. Read over it and let me know if there's anything else we need. You know more about space travel than any of us." He held up a scrap of paper with Cyborg's even script printed across it.

"What about me?" Beast Boy whined. "I want to help too."

"You and Raven can head to the gym. Once I've placed this order I'll meet you guys there and we can work on your hand to hand combat."

"You're sending me in there alone?" Beast Boy squawked. "With Raven? Dude, she's scary in the morning." The others looked at him with mixtures of impatience and disapproval. Starfire shook her head.

"On the contrary, that is only before she has completed the ritual consumption of the herbal tea. It is a sacred beverage, yes? I have noticed that it's effects are most calming, and the 'coffee' that Robin consumes is a potion with equal powers, correct?" She was so sincere that it brought a smile to Robin's face and made Cyborg chuckle.

"Something like that," he drawled.

After firing off a quick email to Bruce to let him know what parts they would need, Robin made his way to the gymnasium. He half-expected to find Beast Boy trussed up in a net of black energy, and was pleasantly surprised when he walked in to see him guiding Raven through the proper way to throw a right hook. Raven, for her part, looked more willing to participate than any other time Robin had seen her In the gym. He was so stunned that he didn't immediately announce his presence, curious to see what would happen if he left them to their own devices.

"This is pointless, Beast Boy," said Raven with her signature training room response. "I am not a combat fighter. That's Starfire's job."

"It doesn't mean you can't learn," he said with a grin. "One day you might be too drained to use your powers to get me to shut up. I'm just trying to give you options."

Raven actually smiled. It wasn't a toothy grin like the ones Starfire gave, but it was sincere, and even from across the distance Robin saw Beast Boy's chest swell over the small victory.

"When you put it that way...could you show me again?" she said, completely straight-faced. Robin laughed, giving himself away.

Work on the T-ship went much faster than Cyborg had anticipated. Shortly before noon a delivery was made to the dock on the island and Starfire easily lugged the crates of scrap metal and delicate computer technology inside. With her help, constructing the outer shell of the aircraft took practically no time at all. Using her flight and condensed starbolts shot from her fingertips she was able to rivet the outer hull together in a half hour under Cyborg's guidance. It was a little like watching a kid put together a complex Lego kit. Every so often she would pick up the blueprints, turn it this way and that as she scrutinized the equipment laid out on the floor, and then zip off to attach this piece here or that piece there. Her ideas streamlined the ship, cutting out unnecessary bulk, but factoring in the varying atmospheres that could be encountered in deep space.

"I do not know the particulars, but I am aware that Tamaran's atmosphere has much more radiation than on Earth. I believe you will find it most corrosive to your Earthen metals."

"Is there a coating we could paint the ship with?" asked Cyborg, eager for her input.

"Actually, I believe the Earthen screening of the sun will provide a sufficient barrier." It took him a moment to process her words. When he did Cyborg's face fell.

"Sunscreen? You want us to coat this entire ship in sunscreen? You're pulling my leg, right?"

"No, I am not. Are you experiencing phantom pain in your appendage?" she asked in concern. He ignored that completely.

"Do you realize how much sunscreen we're going to need to cover this thing? What SPF level do we need?" Her brows furrowed. Cyborg directed her to the laptop he had brought downstairs with him that was currently streaming 80's rock ballads and told her to look up alternative solutions to painting the ship in sunscreen while he got started on wiring the thrusters that would rocket them into the stratosphere.

"I believe we will be needing the SPF 110," she announced cheerily. Cyborg covered his face with his hand.

"Beast Boy, I've got an important job for you," Robin said after closing his communicator. His skin glistened with sweat after the kickboxing workout he had just led. For once Raven hadn't complained, and he made a mental not to give her more body-weight based training until she built up her stamina. Beast Boy's ears perked up at the thought of being useful to the team, and despite his weary legs he leapt up to stand beside Robin with a look of such earnestness that Robin almost felt bad.

"I need you to go to the store and buy two-thousand bottles of sunscreen with an SPF rating of 110 or higher if you can find it."

"What?" Beast Boy exclaimed. Robin held up his hands.

"According to Starfire we'll be able to travel through the Vegan system safely if we coat the ship in sunscreen." He started chuckling before he finished the sentence, still not quite believing that it was true. Beast Boy's eyes narrowed suspiciously, suspecting he was somehow on the punch line end of a joke. Robin held up his hands again and backed away.

"I swear that's what they told me. You can ask them yourself on your way out."

"Why can't you do it?" Beast Boy's voice rose into a whine.

"I have to return the Lamborghini to Bruce Wayne. But I will give you a ride into town if you want." Beast Boy's pout disappeared instantly and he raced off to get ready.

"Sunscreen," Bruce repeated, nonplussed. "You do realize that alien is leading you around by your nose, don't you?"

"Her name is Starfire," said Robin through clenched teeth. Bruce sat back in his high-backed, black-leather executive chair in his office of the Jump City branch of Wayne enterprises. He studied Robin closely over his steepled fingers. Robin fidgeted.

"Something happen that I should know about?" If Robin didn't know him better he would think Bruce was teasing him, but this was the last thing Bruce would joke with him about. He opened his mouth to tell his adopted father that it was none of his business, but the blush on his cheeks gave him away before he could deny it. Bruce's blue eyes went glacial.

"It was nothing," said Robin defensively. "We just fell asleep talking, that's all." Bruce gave him an 'I wasn't born yesterday' look.

"Fell asleep where?" Robin grimaced and looked away.

"Her bed."

"And what were you doing in her bed?" Robin cringed. God, was he really having this conversation with his father? The only thing that could make it worse would be if Alfred walked in and threw his two cents in too.

"She was feeling homesick."

"So you what, decided to take her mind off it?" said Bruce without mercy. The way he said it made it clear that he'd pulled that line before. Robin punched the bridge of his nose.

"Look, I heard her crying, I asked what was wrong, and I sat with her for a while while she told me about her planet, and I fell asleep. Nothing happened," he reiterated for good measure.

"Then why does your face keep turning red?" Bruce said shrewdly. On some twisted level he was enjoying this, Robin realized. Determined to wipe the smirk off his face he said baldly, "because I woke up when she was getting out of the shower and she came back into the room completely naked."

Bruce's eye twitched. Robin couldn't tell if it was from shock, horror, outrage or all three. He was just happy to have silenced him at last. Deciding to press his luck, he casually tossed the keys to the Lamborghini onto his father's desk and started for the door.

"By the way," he said over his shoulder. "Starfire gives Selina a run for her money." Bruce's eye twitched again, and before he could start berating him for being irresponsible, Robin grinned and sprinted off down the hallway. Only when he reached the safety of the street did he allow himself to punch the air with a victory fist.

Hours later as Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven were waxing the outside of the T-ship with sunscreen in the cool shade of the garage, a tall thin figure approached the tower carrying a large box. He wore smartly pressed grey slacks and the navy slicker of a mailman, but Robin took one look at the pencil mustache on his lined face and paled. Jumping down from his ladder to intercept the messenger before he could get within hearing range of the other titans he found himself pinned somewhere between nostalgia and dread.

"I have a parcel to deliver to a 'Master Robin,'" said Alfred dryly. The things Bruce put him up to. He'd really flown him all the way from Gotham just to hand-deliver this package. This time Alfred seemed entirely too willing to participate for Robin's peace of mind. Robin was glad to see him, except that he had a bad feeling he knew what was coming as he accepted the box wrapped in brown paper with the words: To Robin From Batman written in Alfred's neat calligraphy across the top.

"I've been instructed to tell you that if you must use these then you are a fool, but if you don't use them he will kill you. There was some mention of Superman not being able to save you in there as well, I believe." Alfred's mustache quivered ever so slightly as Robin tore open the box.

Small brightly-colored foil packets spilled onto the grass at his feet. They all bore the Bat symbol on them with the slogan: defender of the night, proudly stamped underneath.

"And you say he has no sense of humor, sir," said Alfred with a small smile and a shake of his head.

"Oh my god!" Robin flung the box on the ground, disgusted and more than a little disturbed at the idea of using one of _those_ with his father's symbol on it if the situation ever...er...arose. Alfred just pressed on, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"I was also told to encourage you to...shall we say, take matters in hand before you make any rash decisions-"

"Gah! Go home, Alfred!"

Alfred beamed down at him like a proud grandfather whose grandson just won his first little league game.

"It's so good to see you again, sir."

"Yep, you too. Bye now," said Robin in clipped, embarrassed tones. Blushing furiously as he scooped the condoms off the ground, he gave Alfred a two-fingered salute before turning on his heel and stomping back into the garage.

"Yo man, what's up. We heard you yelling and were just about to come find you," said Cyborg, poking his head out of the door with genuine concern. Still mortified and still fuming at Bruce, Robin just shook his head and kept walking.

"Dude, did someone send you candies?" asked Beast Boy, bending to pick up a small silver packet that had fallen out of Robin's box. Robin froze and closed his eyes waiting for the screech of horror to come.

"EWWW!"

Cyborg took one look at the packet in Beast Boy's hands, saw the slogan, and burst into laughter. Robin could still hear him laughing two flights of stairs later just before Starfire's voice echoed up to him, "Please, how can something so tiny be called the magnum?"

Silence.

* * *

**A/N: I feel like I should apologize for the utter silliness of this chapter. I promise things will get back on track in the next one. Once the goofiness started I just had to see where it went. And hey, at least you got to meet Alfred. I get a kick out of Alfred. Please leave me a review and let me know if you'd like more silliness or would prefer me to just stick to saving the day. **


	15. Chapter 15

Robin remained in his room until dinner time when he finally mustered up the courage to face the group after what had happened in the garage. Waiting for the sliding doors to open into the common room, his hands twitched like a gunslinger preparing for a duel. Cyborg stood in the kitchen cooking stir fry in a cast iron skillet over the stove. Starfire sat at the island with her chin propped up on her hands watching him cook with avid fascination. Raven was in her usual place on the couch while Beast Boy curled up at the other end as a green fox. His head lifted the moment Robin's boot hit the kitchen floor. Every head turned in his direction. Oddly, it was Starfire's wide eyes he found himself gazing into. Cyborg followed his gaze and snorted.

"Oh hey Robin," he drawled with a smile. "There's no need to come out of your room now. It's after dark." Robin braced for the inevitable punchline. Beast Boy shifted back into his usual form, grinning from ear to ear.

"That's right, and we all know Batman's defending the night!" he crowed. Cyborg threw back his head and whooped. Raven shook her head behind the book she was reading, but Starfire poked out her bottom lip.

"Friends, please, I still do not understand what is so humorous," she pouted. Robin breathed a little sigh of relief that no one had taken the opportunity to corrupt her. He could only imagine what kind of explanation she would get from Beast Boy.

"Nothing, Starfire," said Robin quickly. "They're just being immature."

"I'm afraid we can't all have _magnum-sized-_"

"So how much longer will it take before the T-ship is done?" Robin interrupted. He had no idea where Cyborg's taunt had been headed but he was certain he wasn't interested.

"Well, I-"

CRASH!

The opposite wall of Titans Tower exploded. Shards of glass flew. Raven flung up a black shield of power that protected her and Beast Boy from the shrapnel, and Robin instinctively grabbed the edge of his cape and whipped it up over his head even as his feet left the ground. His body slammed into the doors behind him with enough force to knock the wind from him. After a moment, he lowered his arm, taking quick inventory of his team. The power had gone out in the common room, and there were twisted steel beams bowing in where the support beams had been. Sparks flew from the exposed wires poking out from the charred edges of the wall.

Starfire rose into the air, her starbolts blazing humming with energy. Thin red lines crisscrossed her back where the glass had cut her, but her tough Tamaranean skin had spared her from sustaining too much damage. Suddenly her entire body went rigid. A look of absolute terror flitted over her face. "It cannot be..." she whispered. She glanced around at her teammates and her face hardened into that of the warrior that Robin had first encountered tearing telephone poles from the street with her bare hands. A rippling snarl issued from the back of her throat, making the hairs on the back of Robin's neck stand on end. Robin couldn't see what she did from his vantage point, though he craned his neck to try.

"Wait," he said hoarsely, creeping toward her through the shadows, but she put on a burst of speed and flew out the open window.

"Is everyone okay?" called Robin as he sprinted past to the window. Shaky murmurs of assent were given. He peered out the gaping hole in the side of the tower and looked down. It had been a concentrated blast, striking only the top floor, but the glass windows had splintered all down the front of the tower. He raised his eyes to scan the sky and saw two large shapes hovering in the sky. One of them fired a bolt of green light. A beam of electric blue responded, engulfing the first figure entirely. There was the crack of a whip, a shrill scream of denial, and the girl was gone.

"Starfire!"

Robin's cry echoed across the space and the remaining figure turned. Slowly, it glided toward the tower. As it drew closer, Robin retreated from the window. The alien was green with a prominent brow and long silver hair. His face was a mixture of Killer Croc and Martian Manhunter. This wasn't the race of aliens that had attacked the city last time. This was something different.

It leered at Robin, who stood in the shadow of the darkened tower.

"Thank you for returning the Princess, Earthling. Long have we searched for her."

"If you wanted to come in you could have just knocked," quipped Robin, filing the 'princess' comment away for later review. Distraction was the key until he came up with a plan of attack. The creature looked past him to where Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg had formed a tense semi-circle with their fists raised. Robin held up his hand to keep his team from attacking. Whatever that ray was that had hit Starfire he didn't want any more of them getting sucked up by it until they knew what they were dealing with.

"Had we known this world possessed such interesting species we would have come much sooner. Unfortunately our specimen containers have been filled, and with the Princess in custody our mission is complete. But, I'm sure we can find room for four more." He licked his lips, looking at Cyborg with a bad glint in his eye. There was a small whirring sound as Cyborg's arm transformed into his sonic cannon. From beneath the draping sleeves of the brown robes he wore, he produced a silver device similar in shape to Cyborg's cannon but on a much smaller scale.

"If that's your sales pitch, we're not buying," said Robin, whipping out four exploding birdarangs and flinging them at the alien while simultaneously propelling himself back behind the safety of Raven's black shield as they exploded. The alien shrieked in pain as the explosions knocked him from the air. His body slammed into the ledge created by the lack of fall, his hands scraping to find purchase on the broken tile floor. Feeling anything but calm, Robin approached the alien and stared dispassionately down his nose as the creature struggled to haul himself into the room. He pulled his extendable bostaff from his utility belt and twirled it around his finger once...twice...before slamming it into the thing's long bony fingers. The alien hissed a feral sound, his head thrashing back and forth as he snatched his hand back only to loose a few more precious inches. Robin set his foot down on the other hand to hold him in place while Cyborg took up the space behind him, his cannon aimed at the alien's head and ready to fire.

"Now, tell us where you've taken Starfire," said Robin coolly.

The creature's eyes flashed a blinding white for one moment before Robin felt the ground beneath his feet shift. He lost his balance and the alien yanked back his hand, sank his fingers deep into the floor and hauled himself back into the room so fast they barely had time to react. Robin lashed out with his bostaff, but it struck thin air. The alien was suddenly on the other side of the room, his mean smile curved in triumph. Beast Boy transformed into a lion and roared at him, swiping his claws. In a flash the alien was in Beast Boy's face, had lifted him and threw him out the open window. Quickly Beast Boy transformed into an eagle, but he hovered outside, unsure how to engage this target.

"Enough," said Raven, her eyes glowing white as she lifted her hands into the air. Black bands of power started to rise up from the floor, but the alien moved again. He was on the other side of the room so fast it was as if he had teleported. Robin scowled, dropping into a crouch. He'd seen someone move like that before. Two people actually. The Flash and...Kid Flash.

"What are are you?" he snarled. The creature rocketed straight at him. There wasn't time for Robin to get out of the way, but a three year friendship with Wally West had taught him what signs to watch for when his opponent was about to move into superspeed. His weight was on the balls of his toes and he was in the process of shifting right when the creature slammed into him. It was like getting hit by a bull. Robin's feet left the ground and the next thing he knew he was flying through the open window. He fired his grappling gun, but it glanced off the glass paneling of the tower. A black disk appeared beneath him, halting his progress. Above him the monster had taken to the air again. He lacked Starfire's ease with flight. He move stiffly, as if staying aloft required all of his concentration.

"We will return, Earthling." And before Robin could say or do anything, he tapped something on his arm and he winked out of existence.

"No!" Robin slammed his fist into the disk supporting him. That _thing_ had Starfire. "Cyborg, how long until the T-Ship's ready?" Cyborg shrugged helplessly.

"There's still a lot of wiring left to be finished and we haven't even started with the engine."

"How long until she's functional?" Robin didn't care about all the fancy additions Cyborg had planned. When would the ship be able to take off and land?

"Not in time to save her," said Cyborg bluntly, defeat written all over his features. Robin scowled and returned his bostaff to its holster. He punched his fist into the palm of his opposite hand.

"I think I know someone who can help with that."

* * *

**A/N: Who could it be? **

**Thanks to those who reviewed on the last chapter. I've seen several comments about how this story doesn't have a whole lot of reviews and it's starting to make me wonder if people are really enjoying the direction I'm taking things, so the kind words that are said really do make my day. Now, this is where the drama is really going to start picking up, but I'm going to try and let some more silliness come through here and there, because at some point Robin's got to pay Batman back for that epic prank from the last chapter, right...? **


	16. Chapter 16

Beast Boy stood in paralyzed awe as the T-ship literally came together before their eyes at the center of the red and yellow whirlwind. Cyborg could barely give directions fast enough as Flash raced to construct the T-ship.

"So tell me again why I'm helping you guys finish up this science fair project instead of going after Kid Flash by myself?" came Flash's disembodied voice from the direction of the nearly finished ship.

"Starfire," said Robin. The name stuck like glue in his throat. There was so much she hadn't told them. The whole princess thing stuck out most sharply, though at the moment it was probably the least important. If she was a princess then why wasn't she with her people? How had she ended up with the Gordanians, and who were these other characters? The flash of terror on her face when she'd seen who was coming for them played over and over in his mind. What could instill that kind of fear into a girl as powerful as Star?

"Wow, your girlfriend must be something special to have you breaking Bat protocol," said Flash, coming to a full halt in order to stare into Robin's face. Robin clenched his jaw, annoyed by the constant reminders of all the rules he was breaking.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Riiight, and this little adventure you're planning is just a field trip," said Flash nudging him with his elbow and winking conspiratorially. Robin shrugged him off, but Beast Boy snickered.

"We're not just a bunch of kids, Flash. We're Titans."

"I know it sounds cool when you say it like that, but seriously guys, these creatures just waltzed in and kidnapped heroes right out from underneath the noses of seasoned superheroes. Not only does that take some serious b-" he glanced at Raven and quickly corrected himself, "-guts, but they managed it without tipping off anyone! If it weren't for you telling me about it no one in the League would even know it was going on."

"Batman knew," said Robin. Flash rolled his eyes.

"Don't give me any of that 'because he's Batman' crap. If he had any hard evidence he would have said something."

"You think?" said Robin wryly. Batman was the king of secret-keeping. He wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep over keeping this whole mess under wraps until he had enough information to handle the situation himself. It was Flash's turn to grimace.

"All right, according to these readings, she's all good to go," interrupted Cyborg. He glanced uneasily at Flash, as if seeking reassurance that everything was as it should be.

"Every moment that we stand here arguing Starfire is getting farther and farther away. Already her soul's signature is slipping beyond my reach."

"Titans!" Already attuned to the familiar call, the four Titans filed quickly into the ship.

"You think you're just going to leave me here to face the League when they find out I let four unsupervised teenagers fly off in a spaceship to face an intergalactic threat that slipped past Watchtower level security, and not even thank me by ordering a pizza or three? Do any of you even have a license for that thing?"

"I've been piloting the Batplane since I was twelve. We'll be fine. I know what I'm doing."

"You sound like someone else I know."

Robin scowled. He was not like Bruce.

"Thanks for your help. Give us at least twelve hours before you send anyone after us." He was determined to do this on his own, but he wasn't stupid.

"Here." There was a gust of displaced air as Flash left and returned in the blink of an eye. He held out a bulky black backpack to a Robin. His expression was utterly serious.

"He's going to need this when you find him." Curious, Robin unzipped the main compartment to find it crammed full of candy bars. Only then did it dawn on Robin how long Kid Flash had potentially been in alien custody. His super speed gave him a fast metabolism that meant he had to constantly eat to prevent burning out. What if they'd had him for weeks? Would they bother to keep him fed enough to keep him alive? Grim thoughts lay ahead for that train of thought, and Robin quickly shook his head. The Titans would get them back, Wally, Starfire and all of the others who had bed abducted.

The T-ship was essentially five independent pods that combined to form one ship. Each pod had it's own navigation system and could be piloted by its occupant should they become separated. Robin glanced sadly at the fifth pod that remained empty before he turned to look at Flash who was watching the ship take off. He was mildly surprised by the lack of resistance Flash had given. Had it been Bruce they would still be hearing a lecture on how under-prepared they were for this mission. The moment Robin said that the Titans were going to rescue one of their own, Flash had stepped back and understood.

"Raven, do you still have a lock on Starfire's spirit?" Robin asked over the radio as Cyborg started the engines. The panel in front of him lit up with readings that he quickly scanned in the hopes that he could make sense of them. There had been no test run at this. This was a mission built solely on blind faith.

"Faintly," said Raven in a stiff voice. Her eyes were shut with concentration as she sent her spirit self in search of Starfire. She gritted her teeth as the bright familiar aura grew dimmer with distance. Robin balled his hand into a fist.

"All right, Titans. Let's go."

The T-ship shot forward into the air.

"Hey guys?" squeaked Beast Boy over the radio, "Is there a bathroom on this thing?" Three groans answered him.

Leaving Earth's atmosphere was the easy part. Their course took them directly past the Watchtower, and considering the number of paranoid individuals with secret identies to keep inboard, unexpected aircraft in the vicinity were not tolerated. Robin knew this, but he didn't care.

"Get ready to hit hyperdrive," he warned as defense measures took shape around the outside of the superhero satellite. Laser cannons glowed red and swiveled to lock on them.

"We can't hit hyperdrive yet. We'll crash into the asteroid belt," said Cyborg.

"We're not going to get a choice. Hard left!"

Twin jets of red light shot at them and Cyborg spun the ship to one side just in time to avoid the lasers.

"Woohoo! Booyah baby, bring it on!"

"Hyperdrive! Now!"

They were plastered to their seats as the ship rocketed into the depths of space. Asteroids glanced off their sides, gravity tugged at them, and darkness swallowed them whole as they left Earth far behind. Robin left Cyborg and Raven to navigate. Fortunately, Cyborg was able to plug himself into his cockpit and charge, giving the rest of them the opportunity to get what sleep they could manage in the small, cramped pods. Robin couldn't sleep. Now that he had time, he couldn't help but examine the information the alien had given him. Starfire was a princess, and these aliens had captured her once before. Why hadn't she told them? Why hadn't he guessed? Surely there were clues. He recalled the day they had moved into the tower and Starfire had expressed her joy at having a room of her own. Was the reason she couldn't remember having her own space because she had been a prisoner? What else was she hiding?


	17. Chapter 17

"Robin, wake up, we've located the alien ship." Raven's voice spoke softly over the intercom, as if she was afraid the aliens might be able to hear her even from this distance. Robin kept his eyes shut. He wasn't sleeping. He hadn't been able to sleep the entire journey. His mind kept ping ponging back and forth between anger and anxiety over the information Starfire had kept from them. A princess. A prisoner. It changed everything.

"Robin," Raven tried again to get his attention. Stiffly, he sat up from where he'd been resting his head on his consul. His back ached and there was a tense patch between his shoulder blades he needed to relieve. _One thing at a time, _he told himself. First they would rescue Starfire and the others before he got too worked up over her royal status. _And if they failed? Would Earth be held accountable for the death of a princess of Tamaran? _No! There would be no intergalactic politics because Starfire would be all right. He was going to save her.

"Uh guys, that's an awfully big ship," whimpered Beast Boy. The spacecraft in question was in fact massive, a great black whale in the ocean of stars. Beside it, the T-craft was a minnow.

"On hit from those cannons and where done," agreed Cyborg gravely. Like an Earthen pirate ship there were large cannons arranged along the side of the ship. One gun was the size of the T-ship. Robin's stomach did a faint somersault. How were they going to get in? And for that matter, how had the aliens been getting to and from Earth. There was no way they had been making routine trips across this distance to abduct their victims. The Titans had been traveling for nearly ten hours at warp speed, and though he hadn't really been paying attention, Robin knew they had traveled millions of miles.

"I hate to say it, but I think we should have waited for backup from the League," said Cyborg. "There's no way we'll get in that thing undetected."

"There's no way?" Robin repeated scathingly. "We have a teammate who can teleport and there's no possible way we can get aboard that ship." He hated that they were backing out on him. Had they really come all this way to chicken out now?

"There's thousands of them on board," Raven reported. "I think they're experimenting on the hostages. Azar, there's so much pain and fear." She clutched her head, trying to assimilate it all without her skull splitting under the weight. Robin's fingers flexed with nervous energy. He needed to do something. He wanted nothing more than to get on that ship and take as many aliens out as he could.

"Can you sense Starfire?"

Raven didn't answer. Robin spun in his chair to look at her through the glass bubble of his pod. Her face was screwed up with pain and her teeth sank into her lower lip so deeply that a sliver of crimson dripped onto her chin. she gasped and flung out her hand in front of her, splaying her fingers against the glass. Her eyes glowed white and Robin realized that it was the same pose Starfire assumed when she was shooting one of her starbolts.

A small geyser of green flames erupted from the tail end of the ship, destroying the rear cannon. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy looked from Raven's illuminated face to the burning end of the ship.

"We go in now. Raven!"

She blinked as he yelled her name over the com. He could see her gasping for breath. Her violet eyes were wide with fear and...something else. She lifted her head and looked straight at Robin, and he knew that whatever lay beyond those walls was unlike anything he had ever encountered before. Without asking, without giving any of them a chance to brace themselves, Raven murmured three words: Azarath Metrion Zinthos. The four Titans were ripped from their seats and flung through a swirling vortex of black magic.

When Robin felt solid ground beneath his feet again, he raised his head and saw that Raven had sent them all straight to Hell.

Row upon row of steel cages were built into the walls. Inside each cage was a human. Hundreds of men, women, and children peered out at them like starved animals. The air smelled of sweat and urine and feces.

"It's Robin," gasped a boy of around ten who occupied the cage to Robin's immediate left. There were red circles at his temples. Burn marks. His t-shirt was torn in places and Robin could see a line of red dots along the inside of both arms where he had been injected with some pointed device. The sight staggered him.

"We have to get them out of here," said Beast Boy in a strange voice.

"I didn't know there would be so many," Robin murmured, transfixed by the misery surrounding him. In the cage beside the boy's was an elderly man whose entire left arm had been removed. A silver substance covered the amputation site. Nausea swirled in Robin's stomach.

A scream startled the Titans. The prisoners didn't so much as blink.

"Come on," hissed Robin, a little desperately. Beast Boy stood his ground.

"We have to help them," he said more firmly. For the first time since Robin had known him his face was utterly serious, and Robin realized that he too had secrets he'd been keeping from the team.

"I...I don't know how," he confessed weakly. His mind was overwhelmed. So much pain...so many victims...and he couldn't save them. There were no locks he could pick and certainly not enough time to go through so many...

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven flung back her head and rose into the air. In unison every caged wall split open. Murmurs of astonishment and disbelief could be heard. Robin clenched his jaw, annoyed that he hadn't thought of that. He needed to focus. This was no time to fall apart. Starfire needed them.

"Great job, Rae, thanks!" said Beast Boy, beaming proudly at her. Some of the wildness had left his eyes. Raven sagged against the nearest wall trying to catch her breath.

"Oh Azar, make it stop!" she moaned, squeezing her eyes shut again. In the distance the faint rumbles of an explosion sounded. Robin felt the vibrations under his feet. _Starfire_!

He started to run, but a hand shot out and grabbed his elbow. Startled, he grabbed the wrist and spun the offender over his head before he had the chance to register who it was. A teenage boy with faded red curls landed at his feet. His cheeks were hollow, the skin hanging on him like a living skeleton. Beneath the freckles he was pale as death.

"Robin!" gasped Kid Flash with a stab at his crooked grin. "Jesus man, what took you so long?"

Wide-eyed, Robin stared down at his friend. He would never have recognized him. The lightning bolt that normally covered his chest was blackened as though it had been burned off. He was nothing but skin and bones. There were burn marks at his temples too, as if electrodes had been placed there. His muscles had atrophied at an alarming rate thanks to his super metabolism. Fortunately Raven had brought Flash's backpack with them when they'd teleported from the ship. Whipping it around his back, Robin pulled out three bars. Relief blossomed in Wally's eyes, but he made a face all the same.

"I was kinda hoping for something more along the lines of steak and potatoes, but this'll do." Robin rolled his eyes.

The candy bars flew out of Robin's hand as Kid Flash switched into super speed. Some of the color returned to his cheeks after the fifth bar, but he was still a sorry sight. His form-fitting yellow shirt hung on him as if it were two sizes too big, and the skin-tight red pants gaped around his ankles.

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods since you obviously weren't in any rush to save me?" Kid Flash asked around a mouthful of Snickers.

In answer, the ship pitched hard to the side.

* * *

**A/N: Okay guys, so this story is about to get pushed to an M rating just to be on the safe side. Any time you delve into Starfire's past things get a little dark. I tried to keep this chapter fairly light in terms of what the prisoners have been through, but I foresee myself getting pretty graphic with what's coming in the next chapter or so. I wanted to give you some warning in case M ratings really aren't your thing. I'm still fairly new to the rating thing though, so I'm not sure at what point a story qualifies as T or M. If I change it and it doesn't justify that rating please tell me and I'll be happy to switch it back. **

**Anyway, hang on tight. Robin and the gang are about to be in for the fight of their lives. Good thing they picked up Wally to lighten the mood a little bit. ;)**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Again, I decided to switch this to an M rating because things are about to get a little grizzly for our team. There's some dark stuff coming. Fair warning.**

* * *

"So how long before the Leagues comes in to annihilate these guys?" asked Kid Flash good-naturedly as they hurried along a metal tunnel. Robin cringed and glanced over his shoulder in time to catch Cyborg shaking his head with impatience.

"They're not."

"You mean they're already here? Is that them tearing apart the ship? Hurry up, I want to see Supes rip the balls off the one that-" Kid Flash trailed off uncomfortably, glancing at Raven.

"The League doesn't really know where we are," mumbled Beast Boy. Even he sounded petulant. Kid Flash froze.

"How'd you get here then?"

"We built a ship and Raven traced Starfire's spirit here." Kid Flash's eyes grew comically round for a moment.

"You built a space ship?" he repeated flatly, staring at Robin with a mixture of disbelief and exasperation. "You just went into your backyard and built a space ship?"

"Flash helped!" Beast Boy threw in, excited once more. Kid Flash turned to look at him, frowned, and tilted his head to the side.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you're looking a little green around the gills man. You all right?" Raven closed her eyes and tipped her head back with a groan.

"Now there's two of them," she moaned. Robin actually cracked a smile. Cyborg chuckled, drawing Kid Flash's attention next. He whistled with appreciation.

"What's up, Robocop? And _you_, lovely lady..." He slid up to Raven, snaking an arm around her shoulder too quickly for any of them to warn him. "When all this is over how about you and I-" Kid Flash found himself hoisted into the air with a black band of energy clamped around his throat. His eyes bulged and he gasped for breath. Raven's eyes glowed white with power and she smirked at his struggles.

"Someone skipped her morning tea..." said Beast Boy in a sing-song voice. Raven rounded on him next, but he morphed into a beetle and disappeared from sight. Kid Flash dropped to the floor.

"Focus," said Robin quietly, reminding them that they were on a hostile alien aircraft. It was starting to bother him that they hadn't actually encountered any aliens yet, hostile or otherwise. Kid Flash was trying to distract them with his off-beat sense of humor, but Robin had known him long enough to know that he was uneasy. His little slip earlier told Robin volumes. Kid Flash wasn't one to send in another superhero to fight his battles for him.

"So what can you tell us about them? Who are they? What do they want? What are they doing here?" He started walking again, firing questions over his shoulder as he continued to lead the way through the winding tunnels.

"They're Psions. They call themselves scientists. When they came to Earth and found out that there were humans with superpowers they started gathering 'samples' to see what sort of capabilities they really had. Last I heard they were considering a breeding program to blend the best abilities together into a super-human."

"Why?" Robin's voice hardened, remembering the children he had glimpsed in their cages. Kid Flash shrugged.

"Just for the hell of it, as far as I can tell. Finding us was just a happy coincidence. They were looking for something else on Earth. I think one of their experiments got loose and they tracked it to our planet. It must be important." The Titans exchanged a look. Raven grew very still, and waves of raged radiated from her, fueling the anger building within Robin. Cyborg cracked his knuckles menacingly.

"Anything else?" Robin growled. These Psions had already signed their lives away as far as he was concerned.

"Yea, I think they've found a way to transfer our powers to them. It's only temporary, but it's happened to me twice now. And let me tell you, it hurts like a-" Robin held up a hand to stem the upcoming profanities. Once Kid Flash got started it would be hard to rein him in, and Robin preferred to remain professional on missions. Changing direction on a dime, Kid Flash glanced at Cyborg anxiously. "They'll have a field day if they get their hands on you. Be careful." Cyborg paled, but nodded.

The ship rocked again, a sharp jarring that threw Beast Boy off his feet. Kid Flash frowned.

"What _is_ that?"

Robin didn't answer. He didn't need to. Kid Flash had already told him everything he needed to know to guess what these monsters had come for.

"Titans go!" he roared. Beast Boy morphed into a green rhinoceros and charged down the tunnel, clearing a path for the others to follow. There was a whirring sound as Cyborg fired up his sonic canon. Kid Flash kept pace with Robin, something that did not go unnoticed. He could not remember a time when Wally had ever let him step even one footfall ahead of them at a sprint. Either he was in even worse shape than he let on, or he really didn't want to reach the end of the tunnel. But Starfire was at the end of that tunnel. Robin was sure of it, and with a growl, he put on a burst of speed and ran with everything he had.

The first alien they encountered didn't even know what hit him. He was emerging from a side room when the green rhino barreled into him, crushing him against the side of the tunnel. Robin threw himself at the alien, grabbing him by the front if the robes and shoved him hard against the wall so that his head flopped dazedly.

"Where's Starfire?" he snarled. The creature gurgled in his alien tongue. Robin slammed him against the wall again. These creatures could understand him. The one that had attacked the Tower had spoken in perfect English. This one continued to squeal and gurgle.

"Shut him up," warned Cyborg, glancing up and down the tunnel. Growling his frustration, Robin slammed his elbow into the alien's head, knocking him unconscious. He got to his feet and they started running again. They were getting closer now. He could hear noises up ahead and he slowed.

"We're coming up on the laboratories," whispered Kid Flash. His voice shook slightly. Robin glanced at him, afraid to ask just what had been done to him in those rooms. He was spared the question when a high-pitched scream froze all of them in their tracks. The walls around them warped as Raven gasped and collapsed to her knees. Beast Boy reverted to his human form and ran to her side.

"Raven!"

"Hurry!" she moaned, getting unsteadily to her feet. "They're killing her."

"Kid Flash, take me to her!" Robin ordered. Technically Kid Flash wasn't a Titan, and didn't have to follow his orders, something not lost on his best friend.

"You can't go in there alone. There's thousands of them."

"I'm not going alone. You're coming with me. Come on, you heard Raven, they're killing her! Hurry up!"

The grim ghost of a smile flitted across Kid Flash's ashen face.

"Alright. Hang on tight, Romeo." He swooped at him, flung Robin over his shoulder piggyback style and flashed into super speed. Robin kept his body tucked in close and tight. Oven a glancing blow off one of the doorways would shatter his bones into powder. He couldn't see where they were going. He trusted that Flash knew. Dimly he was aware of green bodies they were weaving around. Anger pounded in his temples. They would pay.

Kid Flash skidded to a stop as the tunnel suddenly opened into an enormous room. The stop was so sudden it gave Robin whiplash. But that was nothing compared to the damage inflicted on his heart when he saw what was standing in the middle of the room. A giant metal contraption with four robotic arms was attached to a tall, slender figure. Her purple uniform, inadequate to begin with, was ripped and torn. Long red slashes raked across her skin where a whip had flayed the skin from her. Electrodes stabbed into her arms and legs. Her head hung forward so that red hair pooled in front of her feet on the floor. The aliens murmured with excitement as the machine hummed again and suddenly the room was filled with blinding white light.

Starfire's charged to life. Her back arched, her head flung back and her throat convulsed as she screamed in such agony that Robin clapped his hands against his ears. Kid Flash swore softly, staring at her in horror. Green energy radiated from her in a hazy cloud. Her body seemed to swell. The scent of burning flesh turned Robin's stomach. She opened her eyes and a jet of molten green fire blasted the first row of alien scientists standing in front of her with rapt attention. They disintegrated. The ones standing behind them didn't so much as flinch, merely shuffled to fill their places, eager to see just what the Tamaranean prisoner could do. The alien managing the machine however frowned and flipped the dial up a notch, so that her body bowed back at a dangerous level. Her scream changed pitch, threatening to shatter Robin's skull.

A birdarang impaled itself in the machine operator's eye, knocking him away from the machine. Roaring, Robin fired his grappling gun so that he could land in front of the machine. He stared at the gauges in front of him, desperate to put an end to her screams. The sound tore at his soul. It reverberated inside of him, like watching his parents fall to their deaths on constant replay. It was destroying him. His hands shook. His fingers curled into impotent fists as he beat at the consul, desperately. He couldn't look at her, couldn't see her writhing in anguish. His hand found what he was looking for and the energy stream died.

Starfire slumped forward with a faint gasp. She was bent in half, no longer supporting herself at all. Robin's whole body trembled with shock and rage and horror. Focus. Now was no time to lose himself to emotion. They were outmanned and potentially outgunned. A cool shield came over him, cutting off the pain raging in his heart that he hadn't been in time to save Starfire from these creature's hands. He held onto the rage Though. Yes. That would do nicely.

He reached to his belt for his staff, glaring at the aliens who were staring up at him with avid fascination.

"You want to see pain. I'll show you pain."


	19. Chapter 19

Sadistic scientists they might be, but warriors they were not. Bostaff in hand, Robin charged headlong into the sea of Psions, whipping the staff in an arc to slam two heads together. Their companions gurgled with excitement. He kicked and spun, catching two more off guard by flipping over their heads and cracking the staff down on their skulls. Three tried to grab him from behind, but he whirled the staff again. Fingers broke, ribs cracked, and his elbow obliterated a nose with a satisfying _crunch_. These monsters would suffer. _Crack! Wham! Crunch! _For what they had done to Starfire they would pay a thousand times over.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, splashing away as he whirled and danced out if reach. Planting one end of the staff in the ground he scissored his legs and managed to complete a full turn, knocking down four more Psions. It went on forever. His chest ached as he gasped for breath. For every ten that he took down there were twenty more still standing. They simply watched him with their black, beady eyes as he cartwheeled in and out of their ranks. They were waiting, Robin realized. Either he would reveal to them some ability that surpassed all expectations, or they would simply ride out his rage. He was nothing more than another experiment, one they couldn't wait to get their hands on. A lab monkey that had escaped from its cage.

Landing with a jarring thud on both feet from a back spring off the wall, Robin swung his staff into the kneecaps of the nearest alien, and bent double to catch his breath. They murmured eagerly, crowding closer. With a snarl, he swung the staff wildly, driving them back once more. They scuttled, but they could see that he was nearing the end of his strength. Failure ate at Robin. He was the Boy Wonder. He would not-could not accept failure. Where the hell was Kid Flash? The speedster had disappeared. Panting and snorting with stubborn determination, Robin glanced at Starfire.

She hadn't moved. Her face was completely blank. Her arms were suspended above her at awkward angles. For all he knew she was already-NO!

"Argh!" Fueled by a swift burst of denial he attacked again, but his leg slipped out from underneath him and he went down. Something heavy landed on top of him, covered almost immediately by more weight as they tackled him. An easy trap, and he'd fallen for it like a fool. They were too heavy to push off. Hands clamped down around his wrists and ankles. One wound around his throat, squeezing until the pressure in his head nearly blew the top off his skull. Still he struggled, refusing to die without a fight.

Something sharp pierced his chest. Wincing, Robin looked down to see a needle injected straight into his heart. Already the poison was working, robbing him of what little energy he had left. His eyelids grew heavy. The last thing he saw before he fell beneath the shadows was Starfire's limp body as another Psions approached the energy machine.

Robin awoke to the hissing release of pressurized gas. Above him a Psion scientist shrieked and covered his eyes. Robin hoped the pepper-spray burned like acid on his alien flesh.

"No peeking," he croaked. Someone had attempted to remove his mask. Batman had several safety precautions in place for just such an occasion. Taking a twelve-old into battle, he'd needed to feel secure that his secrets would remain undiscovered. It was the first time Robin had ever needed it, and he sent up a silent thanks for Bruce's paranoia.

"You are full of surprises, human. You are nearly as interesting as that one." He pointed with his chin to where Starfire had been drawn up to a standing position once more. Her head lolled on her neck, but Robin could see that she was still breathing. His face contorted.

"When I get out of here-"

"These restraints have been tested against Tamaranian strength. You have no hope of breaking free, human. You will make for an interesting side project. I was unaware that your species could be so agile. I will be interested to see just how flexible your body truly is. Tell me, do all humans tear apart easily or do their bodies weaken with age?" Robin thought of the prisoner he had seen with the missing arm. Had they done that to him? Torn his arm off just to see what would happen? He felt sick to his stomach.

"We have run diagnostics. Apart from peak physical condition you possess no mutations that would account for you to have come so far alone. How is it you have followed us here and boarded our ship?" The scientist spoke calmly as he reached for a silver tray with a series of sharp instruments on them. Robin's heart raced at the sight if them, but he forced his mind calm. The Psions thought he was alone. That meant the others weren't-

Suddenly there was a hum of activity from behind the scientist's shoulders. He turned, blocking Robin's view. A crowd of Psions were dragging something with them. The light glinted off of metal hardware.

No!

"Ah, not alone then. You travel in interesting company."

Cyborg got slowly to his feet. His face was stoic, his eyes fixed straight ahead. Only when he spotted Starfire's prone body against the opposite wall did he flinch. His hands were bound in front of him. Heavy shackles wound around his ankles. Robin willed him to look in his direction. Where were Beast Boy and Raven? Were they okay?

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Cyborg turned his head toward the corner where Robin lay strapped to an examining table. His human eye widened slightly, but Robin shook his head. _Don't worry about me. Where are the others?_

Obviously there was only so much that could be communicated nonverbally. Cyborg slowly shook his head and broke eye contact as the Psions hauled on his chains. Before Robin's eyes, Cyborg was tied into a device similar to the one holding Starfire. The Psions crowded around him, murmuring. While they were distracted, Robin flexed his fingers until the retractable lock pick appeared at his fingertips. Keeping his body as still as possible he went to work on the clamps around his wrists. They were made from the same technology he had freed Starfire from on her arrival to Earth. The clamp on his left wrist gave a faint click.

The whir of gears echoed around the room. Robin lifted his head up to watch as the great metal arms began pulling Cyborg in four separate directions. Panic faded the rich color from Cyborg's face. He would survive the rending, but the pieces of him that were still human would not. So little of his former self still remained. If they took this from him too... Frantically Robin got to work on his other wrist. Just a little-

The screech of a raven drowned out the noise of the machinery. A towering black shadow rose up like a screen in front of Cyborg. In relief, Robin watched the raven tear the arms from the mechanism with its black magic beak. He nearly whooped with relief. A bright green t-Rex smashed through the doorway into the laboratory. It's massive tail whipped around, flinging Psions to the walls. He flung back his head and roared a battle cry. Raven materialized in the middle of the room. Beast Boy moved protectively beneath her. The two of them formed a barrier around Cyborg. He was wincing, but his limbs were still attached, and when he lifted his arm, the sonic cannon reformed where his cybernetic hand had been.

"No so fast," murmured the scientist seated beside Robin.

Electricity jolted through him. His body went rigid. His muscles spasmed. A fire ignited in his brain as the volts increased. A scream clawed its way out if his throat. The T-Rex roared again, black energy formed a black hole in midair, and a small explosion struck the machine pumping energy into Robin's brain. Rather than shut it off, it only amped up the voltage. Robin seized. His tongue was in his throat. His eyes rolled back into his head. His heart felt like a burning coal in his chest.

"NO!"

The entire ship rocked.

A blur of yellow and red disabled the energy ray. In a brightly-colored vortex it came apart piece by piece. Robin lay on the table, his eyes open and glassy. Aftershocks rattled through him. His body continued to spasm. From across the room he heard a tiger growl.

"You will not harm him!" Starfire's voice was barely recognizable. It was low and more snarl than speech. Her tone promised death. She hauled on her arms, and the metal holding her began to creak.

For the first time, the Psions truly looked afraid. When Robin had beaten them senseless they had viewed it like a demonstration, with eager admiration. When Beast Boy and Raven turned up they had been startled and intrigued by the spectacle. But the idea that Starfire might tear herself free finally set off a grenade of terror in the aliens. She strained, the muscles in her arms bulging. The Titans looked on in awe at the incredible feat of strength.

Kid Flash blurred to Robin's side, his mouth hanging open as he took in the Tamaranian princess in all her glory. Her eyes blazed, and green fire engulfed her hands. The metal bonds began to melt.

"Dude, I think I'm in love," he whispered, half-serious as Stargire tore her arms loose free. Bits of scrap metal flew in all directions. She roared with rage, bending to tear loose the ankle restraints. Raven's black magic popped them loose. Robin clambered off his table, nearly going down the moment his feet hit the floor. He moved toward her.

"Starfire!" he shouted, trying to get her attention. She swung her head and froze him with a look full of hate and pain and rage. He had no warning before a geyser of green flames shot from her eyes. It was only Kid Flash's quick thinking and even quicker feet that got him out of the way before he was a charred crisp on the floor. But he hadn't been her intended victim. The scientist who had been strapping him to the table now had a gapping black crater in his chest. Dumbly, he stared down at himself, covering the hole as if he might put his pulsing heart back in. He died clutching the glistening organ in his hand.

Horror welled up inside Robin. They were Titans. They didn't kill! Starfire had just killed that creature in cold blood with no remorse. Even now, she was turning her death gaze upon the scientist who had manned Cyborg's machine.

"No! Starfire, stop!" Robin broke free of Kid Flash's restraining hands and tackled her. She turned on him, hissing and spitting, raking him with her nails. Too weak to subdue her, Robin let himself go limp as she easily pinned him to the floor.

"Starfire, stop," he said softly, searching her glowing eyes sadly for a glimpse of the sweet girl he had crossed galaxies to free. "This isn't you, Star. Please." His voice wobbled dangerously. Her expression flickered. She blinked. And then tears filled her eyes. A lump the size of a grapefruit caught in Robin's throat as he saw awareness return to her. She whimpered.

"This is what I am, Robin. This is what they have made of me."

"No," he challenged, staring up at her with conviction burning in his eyes. "_You_ decide what you become Star. Not them-not these monsters!"

"I am broken..." she whispered down at him. She searched his face, lost and frightened in the sea of fear and pain that was drowning her.

"You are stronger than anyone else I know."

"I am weary of being hunted, of torture and betrayal. I am so weary of it all." The light in her eyes began to dim. The righteous anger that had fueled her escape had ebbed now. The rest of the Titans had closed ranks around them, preparing to defend each other with their lives. But Robin wasn't paying attention. His world centered on the girl leaning over him.

"You're a Titan now. We will never betray you or let anyone hurt you again. We love you, Star."

Her breath hitched at that small word.

"Aw, that's sweet and all, but we've still got a problem here," said Kid Flash, zooming up to stand behind Starfire. Robin raised his head to see a wall of Psions watching them coldly. Swiftly, he got to his feet and pulled Starfire behind him.

"Titans..." he said softly, quickly running a head count of their enemies and stopping after he passed the two hundred marker. His teammates had nothing but grim determination left. He could see it in their eyes as the stood proudly facing their deaths.

"It's been an honor."


	20. Chapter 20

"So what's the plan, Boss?" asked Kid Flash as they faced down the room full of Psions. He stood to Robin's immediate left, their shoulders touching. He pulled out another Snickers from the black backpack he'd retrieved during his disappearing act while Robin launched his solo attack on the aliens. Raven hovered just behind Robin's right shoulder. Fatigue rolled off her in waves. She could barely maintain her altitude she was so weary. Cyborg was behind her, but his lights were dimmer than usual as his systems went into power save mode. That left only Beast Boy, who took up the rear as the towering T-Rex.

"We take down as many as we can," said Robin shortly.

"Does that plan come with any who, what, or how's?" Kid Flash griped. Robin bared his teeth in a grim smile. Beside him, Kid Flash sighed.

"And to think they call you the Boy Wonder when it's always me saving your ass." He pursed his lips together and let out a high, piercing whistle. The Titans flinched. The Psions stared.

A rumble could be heard from the direction of the doorway. Robin didn't dare take his eyes off the aliens to see what was coming at them next. They moved into his field of vision soon enough. A group of teenagers barreled through the door led by none other than Speedy and Aqualad. Speedy was bare from the waist up and his left arm was in a makeshift sling. There was no sign of his arrows. Aqualad looked terrible, as if he'd been left out in a desert for days. The band behind them didn't look to be in much better shape. There were two girls, a dark-skinned girl with a tight, curly Afro, and a pale, petite girl with green cat eyes and vivid pink hair. A pair of twins clung to her legs. They couldn't have been older than twelve.

"I bet they're scared now," Cyborg drawled, sweeping his eyes over the second team skeptically.

"Hey, I'm not the one who's got the Justice League on speed-dial, and decided to leave them behind-Robin!"

"Titans, just go," Robin snapped, whipping out a pair of birdarangs and lobbing them into the fray. Kid Flash took off, whizzing here and there, creating a whirlwind of chaos in his wake. Robin and Raven hung back to protect Starfire while Beast Boy and Cyborg moved forward to clear a path to the door.

"Any idea how we're going to get back to the ship?" Robin asked out of the corner of his mouth as he watched the battle unfold. The Psions put up no resistance whatsoever, but there were simply too many of them.

"I can't carry all of us to the ship," Raven confirmed. Robin grimaced but he'd been expecting it.

"It's not like we have room to bring them all with us anyway." He had no intention of going back without the captives.

"Friends, it is no use," Starfire moaned from the floor. Robin whirled around to look at her. Her skin was a wan yellow now, not the vibrant orange-gold he was used to. "We are nearly there."

"Where?"

"The Citadel. This is a Psion clone ship. They are employed by the Citadel to gather fresh slaves. In exchange they are allowed to experiment on them first. Any _improvements_ that they make are handsomely rewarded." That note of utter weariness had taken hold of her voice again. Robin blanched under the information. He had heard of the Citadel. It was where the Gordanians had been taking Starfire when she had escaped. She had told them of the horrors that awaited her there, the inhuman atrocities the Gordanians inflicted on their victims. When he'd found out about how vilely the Citadel treated it's female prisoners Robin had been nearly weak with relief that they had spared Starfire from such trauma. They _had_ spared her...hadn't they? The question was written all over his pale face. Squeezing her eyes shut, Starfire shook her head.

"My servitude bought Tamaran three years of peace," she whispered.

Robin staggered. _Three years?! _Those monsters had her for three years? But she was only sixteen, and she had been on her way back when they'd met. She must have first gone when she was only a child. Thoughts of the beatings, rapes, and tortures she must have endured nearly brought him to his knees. Around them the battle raged on. He barely registered it. He covered his face with his hands, overwhelmed.

"Why didn't you say something?" Raven whispered. Her mouth hung open in utter disbelief. Starfire averted her face.

"My pain brought my people peace. There is no higher honor than that for a Tamaranian."

"That's fucked up and you know it!" Robin exploded, balling his hands into fists at his sides. How could she sit there so calmly and tell them that she had been a slave to one of the most sadistic races in the universe and then say that it was worth it if it benefitted her people? Her people had left her to suffer! Why hadn't they saved her? How could her family have allowed her to be taken? How could they have done that to _her_?

Abruptly the entire ship shuddered. Starfire squealed and curled into a small ball. Robin stared at her, unseeing. Rage and dismay clouded his mind. How had she gone on? His parents' deaths had nearly destroyed him. Bruce's parents' deaths had turned him perpetually to the night. But _she_...laughed. She lived, she loved and she radiated joy. How could she feel anything if she had grown up in such despair?

He was so staggered that he barely put up a resistance when the Gordanians boarded the ship and quickly subdued the mutiny. Unlike the Psions they were armed with various weapons and they didn't care who was on the receiving end of it-Titan or Psion. All of the fight had gone out of him staring at the girl who had already endured so much and now had to face still more. A Gordanian cuffed him hard across the face, and he heard Starfire cry out. His world exploded in a haze of green light. And then all was dark.

* * *

**A/N: **

**t-rex989: I hope you've stuck with me long enough to get to this part. I didn't forget. :)**


	21. Chapter 21

The crack of a whip slashed across the back of Robin's calves. Hissing in pain, he rolled out of the way, only to be brought up short by the metal collar fastened around his throat. His head throbbed and nausea swirled in his belly. Disoriented and angry he went into a defensive crouch to get his bearings. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was...Starfire...

He stood in what looked to be a large arena. Hard packed yellow sand covered the floor, and rows upon rows of seats fanned out around him like a stadium, or more accurately a colosseum. In the center of the arena was a massive Gordanian. Metal spikes drove through his brow and nose, and a thick metal shaft protruded from his right shoulder with a thin coating of blood around its base, as if he had recently been in a battle and simply forgot to remove it. He leered at Robin and yanked on the chain connected to his collar. Robin, unsteady and still groggy, stumbled and fell face-first in the sand. The Gordanian dragged him so that the coarse grains rubbed his nose and cheeks raw.

"Others say you best fighter. I not see. You puny. You weak. You die fast." The Gordanian leered at him. Robin scowled and got back up.

"Where are my friends?" he demanded. His tone only made the alien laugh.

"I Gelzor. I your only friend now." He brandished his whip and sliced it through the air. Robin saw it coming and lifted his arm to protect his face. He'd faced off against Catwoman's bullwhip enough times to know how to defend himself.

The leather coiled around his forearm, and taking the big alien by surprise he hauled on it, jerking Gelzor to him. When the Gordanian staggered, Robin wound the whip around his throat and drew it taut until he heard the monster wheezing for breath.

"Let's try that again," said Robin coolly, "where are my friends?" He felt anything but cool. He was terrified. How long had he been there? Long enough for them to collar him and drag him to the middle of this stadium without him realizing it. What had happened to the others? Where was Starfire? Gelzor began to laugh, deep raspy chuckles that shook his massive shoulders.

"Yes, you good sport."

Before Robin could block him, he swung out one thick arm and took out both of his knees. Robin lost his grip on the whip, and Gelzor loomed over him, sneering. His thick elephant-like foot slammed into Robin's side, taking the air out if him. Gelzor raised his foot to stomp and Robin rolled clear.

"You please Majesty good."

"Where are they?" Robin gritted out. He didn't want to delve too deeply into the implications of pleasing this thing's monarch. "Where is Starfire?"

At the mention of her name, Gelzor stopped and tilted his head to the side. His snout twitched.

"Majesty pleased with return of prize. Majesty want. Majesty play." Robin's insides turned to lead. Gelzor's limited grasp of English left plenty of room for interpretation, enough room for acrobatics that would make a Flying Grayson jealous. His legs were like jello, his side hurt from the kick he'd received, and Gelzor was nearly three times his size, but he had to get free. He had to save Starfire, find the others, and get out of this place.

Gelzor yanked on Robin's chains again, dragging him forward. Robin did a spinning kick that struck the alien square in the jaw and whipped his head around with an ominous crack. Gelzor didn't make a sound. He dropped the chain and reached up to touch his jaw. The line do his chin was broken now. Robin could clearly see where the underlying bones had snapped. If he was in pain, Gelzor ignored it completely. Robin backed away, sizing the monster up and trying to find his weak points. A fractured jaw ought to have done more than merely impress him.

"Save strength. Fight soon. Majesty want watch."

Over Robin's dead body would he fight to entertain these creatures. Narrowing his eyes, he sized up his next move. He took a running start and flipped head first over Gelzor's head, wrapping the chain around his throat once more. When he landed, he slid between his front legs, dragging his face down into the dirt. There was no more length of chain to give out, and Robin nearly strangled himself as the chains snapped taught. Using his feet against Gelzor's hide, he pulled. Gelzor snorted and wheezed, reaching around blindly to stop him. Veins stood out in Robin's neck as he pulled with all hs might, Gelzor thrashed, but after what felt like an eternity, his flailing limbs grew weak and his huge body stilled. Shaking with adrenaline, Robin twitched the lock pick loose from his gloves and got to work on his collar. He didn't check to see whether Gelzor was dead or alive.

With a grunt of relief, he tore off the collar and tossed it at Gelzor's body. It made a dull thud as it struck his hip. Now to find the others, but where to even begin looking? Quickly, he patted himself down to make sure he still had his gadgets he was pleased to see that his bow staff had been left along with his utility belt. The Gordanians had underestimated him if they thought taking his grappling gun had completely disarmed him. That would probably prove problematic later, but he would take what he could get.

Robin started running for the nearest doorway. He held his bostaff ready in case there were more Gordanians lurking just around the next corner. Assuming that the gladiator vibe he was getting proved true, he decided to move toward the lodging area. Perhaps, like him more of the prisoners had been brought to provide entertainment for the Gordanians.

There were cells beneath the stadium. All manner of strange aliens were locked within. They regarded him with their strange eyes as he passed. Some grew excited, sensing that he was a prisoner that had managed to free himself. He hurried past them, not wanitng to draw more attention to himself. It would only be a matter of time before someone either found Gelzor or he woke up and raised the alarm.

Something brushed against his ankle, and with a small cry of surprise, Robin spun his staff to bat it away.

"Ouch!" Beast Boy appeared in the tunnel, sitting on his behind and rubbing his head. "Dude, what was that for?"

"You know better than to sneak up on me," said Robin, unrepentant. The changeling had learned that lesson the hard way. Robin prided himself on his situational awareness. Beast Boy had taken that as a personal challenge, appearing just outside bathroom doors and underneath chairs and couches to see if he could scare him. The one time he'd been successful was in the days following Starfire's discovery that the Gordanians were behind the abductions. Preoccupied with wondering how she was dealing with the threat of her old enemies still lurking somewhere close by, Robin had gone for a walk to clear his head and Beast Boy had grabbed him from behind. The same reflexes that grabbed Beast Boy's hand were the same ones that saved him from a broken wrist when Robin realized who had grabbed him.

"I was trying to be stealthy. I thought you knew I was there," Beast boy complained.

"If I'd known you were there I would have said something. How did you find me?"

"I followed you. When they boarded the ship I hid in the air ducts and hitched a ride on one of their helmets when they dragged you and Starfire off."

"Where did they take her?" Robin asked immediately. Beast Boy shrugged.

"I don't know. I followed you.

"What happened to the others? Raven? Cyborg? Kid Flash?"

"Dude, I told you I don't know," said Beast Boy, annoyed and a little chagrined. Robin hit back a frustrated retort. The changeling had done the right thing by sticking with him. Now they could work together to form a plan.

"How long was I out?" he asked softly.

"About an hour I guess." Beast Boy's shrugs were starting to get on Robin's nerves. He needed concrete answers. Batman would have had his head if he'd ever been so unobservant during a mission. Together, they continued through the maze of gladiator lodging. They found more prisoners, but fortunately none that looked as though they originated on Earth.

"Robin, how are we going to-?"

"We'll think of something," Robin interrupted. He had no idea how they would transport everyone back to Earth when they found them.

"You told Flash to wait twelve hours before he alerted the Justice League. They'll find us!" Beast Boy was excited. Robin gritted his teeth at the thought of waiting on a rescue from someone else. He was a hero, he didn't need saving. He want desperately to find a way out before the League turned up-that is if they turned up. He sighed.

"Beast Boy, the only reason we found Starfire was because Raven was able to follow her spirit's signature. We didn't have coordinates or a direction. The League won't know where to look for us."

"They'll find us," said Beast Boy with blind conviction. He needed to believe a rescue was coming Robin realized, and he didn't have the heart to take that away from him yet.

"Come on. We've got to keep searching."

"Robin, what if...what if they hurt them?" Beast Boy's voice wavered with fear. Robin closed his eyes. It was the last thing he wanted to picture, but Beast Boy went on, "I mean Cy should be okay, but what about the girls? Starfire's already in pretty bad shape, and Raven... She hates when people touch her. What if..."

"Heaven help them if they try it," said Robin darkly. He still wasn't entirely clear on how Raven's powers worked or what the source of her magic was, but there was something dark that lurked just beneath the surface with her, something she kept tightly under lock and key. He suspected whatever it was was the reason she kept herself so far removed from the rest of the team even when it was obvious that she wanted to join in and enjoy herself. He wasn't afraid of darkness. Batman had broken him of that. But anyone that got on the wrong side of Raven certainly should be. Starfire was power personified, but Robin suspected that Raven was a force of nature. The thought of what she might do if these creatures laid a finger on her made Robin quicken his pace. They were running out of time.


	22. Chapter 22

A sound like a trumpet filled the sky. Robin grabbed the end of his cloak and instinctively ducked into a shadow, birdarangs appearing at his fingertips. Had someone seen them? Had someone discovered Gelzor's body

"Beast Boy, scout it out," Robin hissed. With a nervous nod, Beast Boy morphed into a green Raven and flew up into the sky. Robin remained in the shadows, scanning the deserted tunnels, all senses on high alert. In the distance he could hear approaching footsteps. A crowd was coming. The green Raven landed on his shoulder.

"The whole city's coming this way," he said, suddenly himself once more. "They've got Cyborg, Kid Flash and a few others in a big cage they're dragging to that place I found you in." Robin groaned. With everyone's powers drained and all the team's flyers too weak to fly, having to fight their way out of a full colosseum was probably the worse scenario he could imagine.

"How far out are they?" He braced. If Beast Bot shrugged one more time...

"Three blocks. They're in some kind of parade."

"Is Starfire with them?" Robin wasn't sure what he hoped the answer would be. Beast boy shook his head.

"No sign if Raven either."

Robin glanced up the street. What to do? Did he stay and try to free the guys that were literally just around the corner, or did he go off and save the girls from whatever horrors they might be enduring? Either choice filled him with guilt, but finally he made up his mind. Turning on his heel he started running in the opposite direction they had just been heading. Confused, Beast boy changed into a green retriever and loped along beside him.

* * *

Raven winced as as a thousand shrieking souls touched her empathic senses. Cringing against the mental onslaught she lifted her hand to rub her temple and discovered a thick metal shackle cuffed around her wrist. Her other wrist was chained as well. She tugged on the chains, testing the links. She could break them, she was certain, but the journey to the Psion ship had worn her out. She would conserve what magic remained while she could and find out more before she used more magic.

She was in a small tent. The material was a rich purple color, a lovelier color than she had given the Gordanians enough credit to appreciate. It put her in mind of Starfire. At the thought of her friend and what had been done to her Rage, one of Raven's personified emotions, sank her teeth into her. It was as if a toxic venom released into her system. A steady stream of words whispered, _they will pay for what they have done. They will burn for this. They will suffer. Their world will be mine! _She gasped and opened her eyes to discover that her twin sets of red demon eyes had awakened as well.

"No!" she groaned, pressing her palms to her forehead as if that would make her father's legacy go away. _She would doom the world_, the prophecy said. Through her Trigon would return. She couldn't afford to lose control. The time the prophecy spoke of was too close. And yet Starfire's plight awakened all her most tightly-caged emotions. Sorrow bent her head and wept, Rage whispered dark promises, and Love and Compassion ebraced like sisters, reaching out for Starfire, wherever she was.

The tent-flap opened and the pink-haired girl Raven had seen earlier in the laboratory was shoved into the small space. The girl hissed like a cat, and Raven felt the subtle rush of magic as the girl whirled to face the guard who had pushed her. He stood outside of Raven's view, but she heard him give a strangled yell and the girl smirked, clearly pleased with herself.

"That ought to keep them for a while," she said smugly, brushing invisible flecks of dust off her bare arms. Despite her bravado, the bruise on her cheek and scratches on her wrist revealed that she had not truly escaped unscathed. She put her hands on her hips and looked at Raven curiously. Someone had given her a change of clothes, though that was a pretty loose term. Two strips of cloth barely contained her modesty, and sheer veiled panels draped before and behind her waist, reaching the floor but concealing nothing. It was only because she was so petite and undeveloped that the costume wasn't trugly shocking. The girl's eyes widened.

"Wait a minute, I know you. You're-"

"I know who I am, who are you?" Raven snapped impatiently. She was getting a strange reading from the girl. Amid all the fear and anger that Raven expected, there was excitement.

"And why should I tell you?" the girl sneered. She couldn't have been more than fourteen, but she was doing her best to imitate a ten-year-old and Raven had no patience for her antics. Black magic shot out of her, grabbing the girl around the waist and hoisting her into the air. She shrieked, but another strip of power covered her mouth so any guards outside wouldn't hear.

"I won't ask again." Raven shivered as she heard her own voice. It had sunk much deeper than usual, a sure sign that she was losing control.

"Jinx," squeaked the girl when she lifted the band over her mouth. The black magic evaporated, dumping Jinx unceremoniously to the floor. Rather than land in a graceless heap however, Jinx did a flip in midair and landed on her toes. It was an impressive move, and she knew it.

"Get these chains off me," Raven ordered. Jinx shot her a 'you've got to be kidding me' look. "If we don't get out of here these creatures will-"

"How would you know what they're planning to do?" The spike of panic Raven sensed told her that Jinx had interrupted her just so she wouldn't have to hear what was coming. Rage flashed an evil smile in her mind, wanting to make the girl pay for being difficult.

"I sense what they are feeling. They are Gordanians. They thrive on the pain and misery of others. They will kill every last one of us if you don't free me."

"You're the hero, free yourself," said Jinx flippantly. For a moment, Raven let her four red eyes glow. Terror radiated from the girl.

"All right, all right, you win!" She snapped her fingers and the cuffs fell from Raven's wrists. Rubbing her wrists to get the circulation moving back into her hands, Raven stood up.

"Where are we?" Rage spoke for her, and she didn't even mind. Jinx backed away from her, looking both impressed and intimidated.

"Those things don't exactly speak a whole lotta English, ya know? But I think we're in some sort of stadium. On the way here I saw Robin in the middle of the arena. He didn't look so good." Before Jinx could continue, they heard a trumpet sound. Jinx flinched, but Raven remained utterly still. Now that Rage had broken free of her restraints she had come forward to taste this new world and she liked it. The fear and misery fed her demonic half, and to her surprise she felt her power returning without the use of meditation. It burned in her veins, demanding that she hurt, maim, and destroy. Raven was still in control, but only just.

Loud voices could be heard just outside their tent. They spoke in an alien tongue, but the second voice was so familiar that Rage was knocked from her pedestal by Happiness. Starfire! But wait? Why didn't she sense...? The tent flap opened and the Tamaranean girl entered. Her orange skin was unblemished, her muscles slid like liquid beneath her skin when she moved, and her beauty was a thing to behold-but she was not Starfire. Instead of red hair, this girl had a waist-length mane of midnight purple. Amethyst eyes shone from beneath dark lashes, and where Starfire's smile radiated warmth and joy, when this girl smiled it promised only pain. A black metal crown gleamed atop her head. Raven's lips curved. Rage flexed her fingers, ready to play.

"Good, you have revived. I grow weary of waiting. Come." She turned on her heel and strode out of the tent as abruptly as she had come, not in the least bothered to find that Raven had miraculously escaped her chains. Raven and Jinx exchanged a look that said plainly, this woman has no idea who she's dealing with. Jinx smiled her cat smile, suddenly aligning herself with Raven wholeheartedly. That tiny connection was enough for Raven to pull Rage back under control. She was not Raven the World-Burner, she was a Teen Titan, and she had work to do.

* * *

The weight of chains was the first thing she registered. The familiar taste of blood followed shortly after. Finally the rush of pain caught her up in its vortex and threatened to tear her apart. Starfire gasped and snapped open her eyes. She knew this place, knew this tent, that doorway, and that throne. Tears sparked in her eyes as memory fused with reality. She had sworn she would never return, she would rather die than let them bring her here again.

She was on her knees, her wrists and ankles shackled together behind her. She could not move. The back of her neck was connected to the iron throne by a thick chain that was so short she could only keep her head bowed. Her long red hair fanned down over her face, pooling at her feet. How long before her Master returned? How long before the degradation began again?

In the distance she heard the blare of the Game Horn's cry. It heralded celebration and death. The Master's prize had been returned and every Gordanian would feast on the flesh of the fallen once the games were through. Starfire bowed her body as guilt washed over her in waves.

She was in the royal box. Even now her Master would be stepping onto the field to announce the games and stir the Gordanians into a bloodlust. Then when the games began the Master would return and Starfire would be forced to serve whatever needs or desires the Master craved. If the games proved boring, Starfire would be beaten until the Master's thirst for violence had been quenched. If the games proved exciting then she could expect to be obliterated by Master's cruel taunts of how she was a weak and worthless Tamaranean who could never have withstood such a fierce opponent. Mind, body, and soul were Master's to destroy at will. Master wielded all weapons with equal precision.

Starfire heard Master's voice silencing the crowd. Automatically she bowed her head at the sound, a perfectly trained puppet. And then a new voice cut across Master's. Starfire gasped. Who dared such a thing? Such an act was punishable by mutilation and death.

"The first person to tell me where Starfire is gets to stay in one piece."

Starfire's heart nearly burst. Robin! Robin was here, and he was going to die.

_No_!

* * *

**A/N: I know these last two chapters may seem like they're a little slow, but I've got to set up what's coming. Action, action, and more action. **


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Sorry about the delay in uploading. I hate when I get off-schedule. Hopefully this will be worth the wait. **

* * *

Starfire struggled as she heard Master's cruel laugh. Robin shouldn't be here. He was human. He would never survive the Citadel. She had to save him before it was too late. He had saved her once before. She owed him that much and more. Driving her knees into the stone floor she reared back as hard as she could. The metal collar cut into her throat. She gritted her teeth as the links of the chain bit into her scalp as she pulled with all her might. The metal creaked, but the cruel bite of it against her flesh left her gasping.

From outside she heard Robin's battle cry, the familiar growl. Almost immediately she heard Master's hiss of pain. Pride blossomed in Starfire's breast, even as sorrow assailed her. Robin would fight to the death. He would face down a fully-powered Tamaranean with no fear. It was a battle he could never hope to win, but he was trying. gritting her teeth, Starfire pulled as hard as she could, until the metal collar bit into her skin, until she felt the sharp edges draw blood, she pulled.

With a faint creak, the iron throne shifted on its platform. Strength surged into her limbs as confidence ballooned inside her. She would do this. She would get free...

"Focus!" Robin yelled in the distance, and she heard it as though he was speaking straight to her. Starfire pulled again, using every ounce of strength in her. The throne tore from the base. Twisting around so that she could use the chain to drag it closer she easily broke the loop binding her to the ruined chair.

"And now human, you will die!" cried Master in triumph.

* * *

Robin lay on his side, cradling his ribs. The black-haired Tamaranian had blown up the section of seats he had been standing on and the force of the blow had thrown him against one of the pillars. Propped up on one arm, he raised his head to see a Gordanian guard bearing down on him with a double-bladed ax. His body tensed to spring out of the way, but pain laced through his thigh and his leg gave out as he attempted to put pressure on it. Grimacing, he braced to duck under the blow.

A green rhinoceros barreled into the Gordanian, spearing its leg on his horn and flung him through the air into the Tamaranean. She caught it easily, her eyes alight with violet fire. She clutched the guard by the throat, and to Robin's horror she set his entire body alight. He screamed and flailed in her grasp as purple flames engulfed his body. She flung him at Robin.

Green talons wrapped around Robin's shoulders before hoisting him into the air. He looked up to see that Beast Boy had morphed into a pterodactyl. The changeling was faring the best out of everyone. As they veered over the stadium, Robin looked down to see Cyborg backed into a corner. His lights were so dim it was hard to tell if they were still on. He had resorted to merely bashing his attackers with his metal fists, though even that much effort was draining the remains of his battery. Robin could see his movements growing slower with each punch. Kid Flash had slowed to human speed. The candy bars were burnt up and while he still managed to have enough energy to dodge the projectiles the Gordanians threw at him, he was unused to fighting at such a slow rate. Several times he was struck simply because his body did not react at the rate he expected it to. Aqualad was curled up against the wall of the stadium, completely spent. Speedy stood protectively over him, doing what little he could to fend off their attackers.

"Beast Boy, we need to-Argh!"

The pterodactyl let out a hair-raising screech as a violet fireball seared a hole through his wing. They banked hard, spiraling for the ground. Robin felt he stomach in his throat.

"Focus!" he shouted. Feebly, Beast Boy flapped his wings. They crashed into the hard yellow sand. Immediately, Beast Boy reverted to his human shape. Moaning, he hugged his arm against his body, but not before Robin saw the angry red wound. Hs mouth went dry at the sight. He opened his mouth to say something, anything that might take Beast Boy's mind off the pain, when Beast Boy gasped at something over his shoulder.

There wasn't time for him to turn.

She seized the end of his cape and hauled him at a break-neck speed high above the arena. She drove her knee hard into his back and he heard another of his ribs crack. The breath gushed out of him in a harsh cry. She whirled him around to sink a fist into his belly. He felt his intestines slam against his spine. His body went limp. She grasped him by the throat, lifting him so that they were at eye level. Awash in a haze of pain, Robin caught himself admiring how beautiful she was. This close, she looked so much like Starfire. They could practically be sisters...

"Of course Koriand'r would hide among such weaklings as _humans_. Did you make her believe she was powerful? Did you think she was strong?"

"I know she is," he rasped out bravely. "You wouldn't have chased her across the galaxy if she wasn't." Her eyes widened briefly at his audacity. For a moment she was speechless, as if she couldn't believe he had dared contradict her. Then her face twisted into an expression of such malice that any resemblance she bore to Starfire instantly vanished. The corner of Robin's mouth lifted in an almost dreamy smile. He knew it was almost over. His vision was going in and out of focus. His limbs were too weak to fight any more. Her grip on his throat tightened.

"And now human, you will die!"

Robin closed his eyes, waiting for the finishing blow. He felt the heat of her attack warming his face. Strangely, the light through his eyelids shone green. He cracked them open and saw a green tsunami rolling toward them. The Tamaranean beauty released him to cross her arms in front of her to protect herself from the blast.

Robin fell.

Distantly he was aware that he was falling but his numb brain was too wrung out to act. Idly, he reached for his grappling gun only to remember that it wasn't there. Beneath him, the green waves of light rolled up to swallow him. The heat was blistering, but it was the fall that preoccupied him. That the last of the Flying Graysons would fall to his death was the height of irony. He'd left the circus, and yet here he was slipping through the air with no net to catch him.

Something hard slammed into him from underneath and his body nearly snapped in two as his momentum folded him around the object.

"Robin, you must hold on. I cannot-!"

His body obeyed the order before his ears identified the voice. His eyes snapped open and he found himself looking into Starfire's familiar face. She looked terrible. There was blood on her neck from a thin slash just above the strange collar she wore. He orange completion had faded to a sickly yellow, and despite the boiling heat of energy radiating from her there was weariness in every line of her face. she was bowed back at a strange angle, her wrists bound behind her back and chained to her ankles. She had somehow managed to force her bent knees out to snatch him from midair. To keep him from sliding off she was practically floating on her back.

"Please, you must get the others and go. I will buy you what time I can. I will be unable to defeat her. She has always been stronger than I am."

"Who is she?" Robin's mind had caught back up to him. The sight of Starfire's battered face was sobering. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction the dark Tamaranian had fallen. The blast of Starfire's energy wave had flung her into the seats on the opposite side. She had not risen, but Robin knew how resilient Tamaranians could be.

"Komand'r is my sister. She is responsible for every sorrow I have ever suffered."

It was like a physical blow even though Robin had guessed as much. The resemblance was too strong, their voices too similar. Yet to know that the sadistic, blood-thirsty creature was her own flesh and blood made him want to cradle Starfire against him and weep for her.

"Please Robin, there is no time. Take the others and go. You mean too much to me.". Though he knew that she meant the words for the team, Robin's throat went dry. A lump settled over his heart like a stone. He had crossed the universe for this girl, he'd walked into the mouth of hell to rescue her. Leaning forward, using his thighs to anchor him to her waist, her grabbed both sides of her face so that she had no choice but to look at him.

"I am not going anywhere without you!" Before her startled expression could sink in, before he could think too greatly about how their bodies were pressed together, or how despite everything her hair still carried the faint traces of her strawberry-scented shampoo, he leaned down and wrapped his arms around her to go to work on her bonds.

"Turn over," he commanded. She spring-boarded him into the air so that she could flip. He landed as softly as he could manage on her shoulders. Her red hair engulfed him, and he fought to clear it aside so he could get rid of the hideous chains.

"Hurry Robin, she is waking," said Starfire, watching her sister. With a soft click he picked the lock tying her hands to her feet. He glanced toward Komand'r as well. In her present condition he didn't know what sort of chance Starfire stood, but he knew she needed to know the truth.

"She's afraid of you," he murmured. "She's spent her life trying to make you believe that you're weaker because she knows deep down that you have always been stronger than she could ever be." Her wrists sprang free just as Starfire gave a faint gasp. "What she's put you through you would never have survived if you were as weak as she claims. You are a Titan, Starfire. Take her down." The last words were a growl in her ear. With every word he felt her muscles contract beneath him. He could practically feel the purpose rolling off her. Three years of slavery. Three years her own sister had subjected her to the worst form of existence imaginable. He knew the source of her powers, she had told him. Boundless courage fed her strength. Righteous fury fueled her starbolts, and unbridled joy gave her flight. Starfire was alive in the air, as if she had been born there. Still, Robin needed her to know, needed to say it if he never got the chance.

"Robin," she interrupted before he could open his mouth to say anything more. Now that she was free she was hovering in a straight line with him sitting in the small of her back. He couldn't see her face, but her voice had taken on a hard edge that made her sound eerily like her sister.

"You will need to do the hanging on." He grasped her shoulders just before she launched herself at the ground like a bullet.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: as always guys, thanks for the updates. I've already got plans for a sequel in place. I think it's going to be done in first person though. As for this story though, the light will return...eventually.**

* * *

Starfire rocketed to the ground, landing beside Beast Boy who had gone to where Cyborg had finally run out of power. Cyborg sat with his back propped up against the wall of the stadium, both legs straight out in front of him. His body hinged forward slightly at the waist, and both eyes stared vacantly ahead. Beast Boy defended him ferociously, alternating between dinosaurs and great cats to swipe, slash, chomp, and bite anything that tried to get close to them. Wally and Speedy were in the process if dragging Aqualad behind the protective circle Beast Boy had created.

Starfire loosed a volley of starbolts that blasted the Gordanians back from the titans. At the sight of her, they quickly fell back. Robin swung down off her back only to forget that his body had given out on him. His knees buckled as he hit the ground, but Kid Flash managed to slip under his arm and catch him before he hit the ground.

"Easy there, Boss. You're no _super_hero," he murmured with the ghost of a smile. Robin was tempted to roll his eyes, but the sight of his battered team wiped any mirth from his mind. He'd led them here. They were on their last legs with no hope in sight of a rescue.

"You must remove yourselves from this place," said Starfire to the group in that strange new deep voice of hers. Annoyed, Robin turned to argue with her but his voice caught in his throat.

She was glowing. A green haze of energy formed a cloud around her, emanating from her pores. Instantly, Robin understood, and it filled him with even more guilt.

"They gave you your starbolts, didn't they?" There was no need to ask who he was talking about. She nodded curtly. Her eyes fixed on a point above his head and her whole body tensed.

"You must go. Now!"

"Starfire, we're not-"

"Now, Robin!"

She blasted into the air with enough force that everyone but Beast Boy, who was in triceratops form, fell off their feet. Cyborg slumped sideways, a marionette without strings. Robin turned in time to see the collision as the two sisters met in the air. The thud of flesh on flesh resonated in the now silent arena. Even the Gordanians stopped attacking to watch.

"You will bow before me, little sister. And then I will have your head!" Komand'r jeered at Starfire, who remained silent. Instead, she sent a massive ball of green fire at her sister, knocking her high into the air. She screeched. Tearing his eyes away, Robin turned to the team.

"All right guys, Star's bought us a little time. We've got to get out of here. Speedy, Kid Flash, are you guys good to move?" Robin studied their faces. The answer was obvious. Kid Flash had an ugly purple bruise across the left side of his face. Speedy's eye was swollen shut and someone had busted his lip. His shoulders were hunched against the pain of an internal injury.

"Ready when you are," he said stubbornly.

"What about Raven?" Beast Boy transformed back into himself, frowning. His uniform was shredded and covered in blood. It was hard to tell what was his and what wasn't. Robin noticed that his burn had healed during one of his transformations. If they got out of this alive he would have to ask the changeling how his healing processes worked.

"Don't worry, Beast Boy, we'll find her, but none of us is in any shape to keep fighting. We need to fall back." Beast Boy sniffed and morphed into a grizzly bear, roaring at the sky. _I'm not too tired to keep fighting. _His message was loud and clear, and in any other scenario Robin would have welcomed his courage, but they were losing badly. It was a miracle they weren't already dead. Drawing on what little strength he had left he drew himself up to his full height. The breath rattled in his throat from the damage done to his ribs.

"Look around you. How much more do you think we can take? How much more do you think Starfire can take?" As he said it, Komand'r seized the end of Starfire's long hair and used it to whip her though the air like a doll. Starfire Smashed against one if the stone pillars with a loud crunch. Beast Boy shifted back into himself and wilted. Robin continued to scowl at him, daring him to argue again. Couldn't the changeling see how much it was killing him to run and hide while his teammate was in trouble? Despite the extra energy pumping through her, Starfire wouldn't be able to hold out for long against Komand'r.

"You carry Cyborg. As for you two, follow me." Overhead one of the sisters let out a shriek of pain and he flinched down to his soul, praying it was not Starfire. There was no time to look back. She had given them their chance to escape, they had to take it.

* * *

"You chose poorly, Sister dear," sneered Komand'r, looking down at the fleeing Titans. "Your Chosen would rather save his own skin than stand beside you and die." Starfire never took her eyes off her sister's face. Relief coursed through her. Robin was leaving. He would not witness what would unfold. If he saw he would never be able to look at her the same way again. But there was no other course. Only one sister would walk away from this duel. Komand'r would follow her to earth and harm more innocents if she allowed her to live. But Robin did not kill his enemies, no matter what. With her sister's death she would forever be banned from being a Titan again. It was a worthy sacrifice. At least she would know that her friends were safe.

"You were always so pathetic Koriand'r," Komand'r sighed with feigned wistfulness. "But you had the perfect green eyes and the red And'r hair, and on Tamaran you were loved while I was hated for being different. And then you didn't even have the grace to die when I brought you here the first time. You just kept taking it, whatever I ordered done to you. Even torturing you was boring. If it weren't for the conditions of the treaty forbidding me from killing you outright I'd have done the universe a favor and destroyed you. And yet, you're still here. Still so _perfect_. Those little insects traveled all the way from Earth to rescue you. And as soon as Tamaran finds out that you have been taken captive again they will send envoys and diplomats to attempt to barter for your safe return. I have been here for ages, and not once has anyone attempted to bring me home. Oh yes, they know I am here. They simply do not care whether I live or die. Only you. It is always you!"

"You have shown your true self to them, Kom," said Starfire gravely. "When they learned that my slavery was merely to soothe your pride, they turned on you. You were never fit to rule Tamaran. You are selfish and cruel. I have given everything for Tamaran. I accepted the terms of my imprisonment because I believed it meant peace for our people. But you never cared about peace. All you desire is war and bloodshed and vengeance for wrongs you believe have been committed against you." Komand'r growled deep in her throat.

"The throne should be mine! I am eldest! I should be first in line. Not you!"

"I would gladly give you the throne if I believed you were worthy of it. I have a new home now."

"No longer, little sister," hissed Komand'r, gathering a ball of violet light between her two hands. Starfire watched her without raising her hands to defend herself. This was the moment. Robin and the others were clear of the stadium. She could save them and Tamaran. She closed her eyes and let the boiling green flames engulf her from the inside out.

* * *

The explosion filled the sky. Like an atomic bomb, a green mushroom shaped cloud rose into the air while a wave of dust particles flattened everything in their path. Robin fell face-down as dirt and rock rained down on him. There were grunts and moans from the others as they were struck. Something heavy dented the metal plate across Cyborg's lifeless chest.

For a long time Robin didn't even bother to get up. He squeezed his eyes shut as anger and frustration took him. How could he have let her stay behind? How could he have abandoned her?

"Dudes..." Robin flinched. He felt he would explode himself if Beast Boy dared ask the question they all knew the answers to. Beside him, the changeling got to his feet and took a step forward.

"Uh Raven, since when do you have six eyes instead of two?"

There was a quiver of uncertainty in Beast Boy's voice, enough that Robin wearily pried open his eyes to look at their final missing member. Beast Boy was right, she had sprouted two extra sets of eyes in the middle of her forehead and they glowed a fiery red. Her dark hair whipped back from her face as if caught in a violent wind. The stones around her waist were glowing ominously. She radiated menace.

Fear gripped Robin. Somehow, the mere sight if those red eyes on her face terrified him almost more than anything else they had faced since leaving Earth.

Beast Boy's alarm bells clearly weren't ringing though. He took another step toward her and waved a hand in front of her face.

"Uh hello, Earth to Raven, we've only been trying to find you for the past like...how long have we been here?"

"Enough!"

When she spoke it was as if a dozen voices spoke as one. Robin actually flinched. Beast Boy's eyebrows shot up and he jumped back.

"I claim this world in the name of Trigon!" she roared, flinging her head back and throwing her hands to the sky. Two columns of black power shot high into the sky.

"Cool. Who's he? Is he going to get us out of here?" Beast Boy grinned eagerly and tipped his head back as if he thought a space ship would descend for the heavens. Behind him, Kid Flash clapped a hand over his face.

"Something tells me this day just took a turn for the worst," he groaned. Robin nodded and wearily pushed himself to his feet.


	25. Chapter 25

"Hey, what gives?" piped up a squeaky, high-pitched voice from behind Raven. Robin leaned to the right in order to see the little pink-haired girl sitting in the edge of a fallen wall. She had a disgruntled expression on her features, like someone promised a nice cream cone and getting a sticker of one instead. Raven didn't turn, but she did lower her arms a fraction.

"You said this world would bow before _us_, not some guy named Trigon."

"Lord Trigon," Raven corrected in an imperious voice, though she spoke more as an afterthought than as a reprimand. "He is my father. He is the greatest of all the demon lords. It is my destiny to return him to this plane of existence." Jinx sniffed.

"He must not be all that powerful if he's counting on you to free him. If you ask me, cut him loose and keep all this power for yourself. I mean, sure, this place is a dump now, but just imagine the possibilities. A whole planet all bowing down at your feet."

"Dude, I think I'm in love," whispered Kid Flash, leaning over Robin's shoulder to get a closer look at the petite girl lounging comfortably in front of Raven's terrifying new persona. Robin elbowed him lightly in the ribs to get him to shut up. He narrowed his eyes at Jinx. What was her angle? Whose side was she on? He had to give it to her, she had Raven's full attention, and what she was saying seemed to be getting through to her.

"You know not what you say, human. Lord Trigon is ruler of all things."

"Even you? And here I thought you were a girl after my own heart. Whatevs, I'm out." She slipped daintily from her perch and started sauntering off in the opposite direction. Raven turned to watch her go. Robin held his breath at the conflicted look that crossed her features.

Suddenly a black arm of power shot out and snatched Jinx off the ground. She wriggled indignantly as Raven pulled her back in front of her. Slowly, Raven dropped from the sky until her feet touched the ground. The rage was fading from her aura. The winds whipping her hair back from her face started to die down.

"You dare turn your back on me?" Raven's voice no longer sounded as though it was overlaid by a dozen voices. There were perhaps only five there now. Jinx glared.

"You're going to want to put me down before something bad happens," said Jinx darkly, wriggling her right arm free. Raven smirked and her upper pair of eyes closed.

"You think to intimidate me?" Only two voices now. Jinx flicked an eyebrow toward her hairline.

"I'm just saying, ticking me off is kinda like twirling through a hall of mirrors with a sledgehammer. You won't be around long enough to outlive the bad luck I can send your way."

Raven actually laughed, and while the sound wasn't one that the others were very familiar with, it was definitely all hers. She set Jinx on the ground and bowed her head. As Robin watched, the four pairs of red glowing eyes faded seamlessly back into her skin. It was one of the creepiest things he'd ever seen.

"Thanks," said Raven quietly. "I needed that." She was panting slightly, and Robin suspected that she had barely managed to crawl back from the dark place she had been about to descend into. Jinx shrugged and Robin might have believed her cavalier attitude if he didn't catch the light trembling in her fingers before she balled them into fists and folded her arms across her chest. She realized how close she had come to disaster. He applauded her quick thinking.

"Ain't no way you'll ever catch me taking orders from some _man_, and you shouldn't either." At that, she suddenly turned at shot Robin a pointed look. His eyes widened in affront. And there he'd been giving her a compliment in his mind. Raven gasped suddenly and grasped for Jinx's shoulder. Jinx gave herself away again when she flinched away. A ripple went through Raven's frame, and her violet eyes rolled back into her head. Jinx squealed as Raven fainted at her feet. No one said a word or made any move to go to her aid. Jinx scowled at them.

"Well don't just stand there, do something!" she snapped. Robin, Kid Flash, Beast Boy, and Speedy exchanged dubious looks. Beast Boy held up his hands and backed away shaking his head.

"No way dude, that was seriously creepy."

"I'm with the green guy," said Speedy, straight-faced. Kid Flash glanced from Jinx's increasingly furious face to Robin's stoic one and laughed.

"All I'm going to say is that you're in serious trouble in that tower of yours when their cycles sync." Jinx snapped her fingers, and a whip of pink light knocked Kid Flash off his feet.

"Ouch! Hey, what was that for?"

"Because you're an idiot. Now get over her and help me," she snapped. Kid Flash turned his back on her as he got slowly to his feet. He took the opportunity to grin at Robin before he arranged his features into a more put-upon expression. Oh yes, it was definitely love, thought Robin sarcastically. He started to follow Wally to help Raven when he heard a beeping sound coming from somewhere behind him. Speedy squawked and spun with his fists raised at the hulking mass that was Cyborg. The sound was coming from his right ear. Cautiously, Robin stepped toward the fallen Titan and inspected the right side of his head. There was a small metal box just behind the flesh of his ear. He recognized it instantly. He whooped excitedly and punched the air with his fist.

"So, not a bomb then...?" Speedy drawled, lowering his arms.

"It's a tracker. Flash must have tagged him while they were working on the ship. They're coming. Come on guys, let's go back to the stadium and flag them down!" Robin was euphoric. They were saved! They were going to get off this planet. He didn't even care about all the lectures he would hear from Bruce.

"We're going back in there?" Beast Boy whimpered. "Where Starfire...?"

Robin's joy exploded in a blaze of guilt and pain. Starfire... How could he have forgotten? Could he really walk back in there now? What if her body...? No, he owed her a proper burial if there was anything left to bury. She was a princess. Her people would want to receive her remains. A huge weight settled over his shoulders and he wiped his hands over his face, wearier than he had ever been in his life. His head began to swim again. His legs shook beneath him and gave out. He growled his frustration. They needed to get to an open space where the Justice League could land... He needed to find Starfire... His team still needed him...

Darkness took him.

* * *

**A/N: a little lightheartedness after all that tension. Hope you don't feel cheated out of a Trigon showdown. I figured with everything she's going through Raven would loose some of her control. Her relationships with the team aren't established enough for them to be the reason to bring her out of it yet, so I figured a little teenage rebellion mixed with girl power would do the trick. Jinx is perfect for that. The drama's not over yet though. The League is none too happy with Robin right now. Not at all...**


	26. Chapter 26

Robin lay on his bed staring at the grooves in the metal ceiling above. His hurt everywhere. Here in this room he found peace. For the first time since this adventure began he was able to be alone with his thoughts, dark as they were. There, where no one could see him, he allowed himself to grieve. The lectures were coming. Right now the League had their hands full with trying to fit as many prisoners on board as possible. Robin came to in the hospital bay, swore he was fine, and quickly offered up his cot to one of the dozens that needed it more.

His room was beside Batman's, and therefore the door was locked. Ninety-five percent if the technology aboard the Watchtower came from Wayne Enterprises, including the locks on the doors. Robin had already overwritten the controls so that no one could hack through. Not that that would stop them if they were that determined to find him. There were too many teleporters, shape-shifters, and speedsters that could vibrate through solid objects to be truly spared.

Wally, he knew, had gone with Flash to the cafeteria. Unlike Batman, Flash was too relieved to see his protégée alive to be angry at him. A makeshift generator had been constructed for Cyborg. Robin didn't know where they had left him, but it would be some time before Cyborg was back on his feet. Beast Boy and Raven had gotten lost among the other rescued sidekicks and superpowered teens. Robin felt only a slight twinge of guilt that he had abandoned them. Beast Boy he knew would be too starry-eyed by the League members to notice, and Raven probably wanted nothing more than to find a quiet room to herself where she could meditate. As for Starfire...

Robin seized two fistfuls of his hair until he felt his scalp tingle with pain. He sat hunched over with his knees drawn up to his chest like a child. A soft keening sound slipped from beneath his clenched teeth as that failure crashed over him. Her death would haunt him forever, he knew it deep in his bones. He hadn't been able to save her. Just like his parents, he'd seen it unfolding and been unable to do anything to stop it from happening. He choked on his own self-loathing. How many more times would he fail the ones that were counting on him? How many more would he loose?

There was a knock on his door. He sucked in a swift hiss of breath and wiped at his mask-less face.

"Go away," he said gruffly. He hoped the thick steel muffled the sound of tears in his voice.

"Robin, you are needed in the medical bay," said Wonder Woman sternly. She was angry with him too. God, couldn't they just leave him alone? No one needed him. They were on a ship stuffed with superheroes, what did anyone need him for? He sniffled and reached blindly for his mask. The adhesive had come loose thanks to his tears. Carefully, he pressed it back against his skin and glared at the door. He could practically feel her standing on the other side with her hip cocked and her fists clenched. A moment later she tried the door. Robin smirked with grim satisfaction at the sound of her curse when the override to the lock was refused.

SMASH. Her fist smashed through the thick slab of steel. Though he had been expecting it, Robin still felt a small leap of astonishment at her strength. She pried open the door with her hands until she could see him watching her.

"You call yourself a leader? You sent your team into a battle they could not hope to win, and now that you have been saved from your own folly you hide with your tail between your legs. She will not be calmed, says you will never speak to her again and will ban her from the Titans for what has happened. Are you truly so callous? After what that girl has survived?" Robin blinked. She couldn't possibly be talking about Raven. Yes, the whole red eyes thing needed to be discussed when they were home again, but the idea of her being distraught was hard to imagine. He didn't move. Wonder Woman's dark brows lowered over her crystal blue eyes.

"I will tear this door from its hinges," she vowed. "The girl is refusing medical care that she desperately needs. I fear you are the only one who can talk sense into her. Now get up or I will drag you there myself."

"Who?" he whispered, hardly daring to hope. It wasn't Raven. Raven had escaped practically unscathed. Raven wpulled never cause a scene. That sounded more like...

"Princess Koriand'r. The one you call Starfire." Wonder Woman spoke as if she thought he was stupid. She probably did.

Robin didn't know what to expect when he entered the medical bay. The long walk had taken longer than expected due to the stiffness in his limbs, but the realization that Starfire was actually alive made him all but forget about the discomfort.

he walked in and almost immediately walked out, but Wonder Woman cuffed the back of his head impatiently. Starfire was on the opposite side of the room, backed into a corner by Superman, Hawk Girl and Black Canary. She was completely naked. Robin stared. He was torn between disbelief that she was alive, dismay at the sight of the many cuts, bruises, and burns that covered her flesh, and discomfort at seeing her so vulnerable.

He must have made a noise because Starfire's head snapped up, and she froze. Her mouth formed his name, but no sound came out. Superman looked around at him in relief.

"Leave her alone," said Robin more forcefully than he meant. Superman nodded and quickly glided toward the door. Hawk Girl and Black Canary hesitated, no doubt questioning whether to allow him to be allowed in.

"Robin, please. I have told them that I do not belong here. Tell them they must not-"

"Starfire, put on a dressing gown," said Robin, snatching one off a nearby peg and tossing it to her with his face averted. Out of his peripheral vision he made sure she put it on before he faced her again.

"Can we get a minute?" His eyes never left Starfire. She looked terrified. Of him. Black Canary and Hawk Girl didn't look pleased, but they left. Wonder Woman scowled in warning before she closed the door behind her.

"Robin, I understood what it would mean when I...that is...I realize that I am no longer worthy to call myself a Titan. I have broken the oath I swore to never-" Robin silenced her by crossing the room and folding her in his arms. She hunched over so that her nose was pressed into his shoulder, burrowing into a small bruise that had developed there. He hugged her tighter.

"I thought we lost you, Star."

She gasped, and made to pull away but he clutched her tighter.

"We're your family now, and you will always have a place with us."

Starfire broke down, hanging onto him for support. Robin rocked her slowly back and forth, squeezing his eyes against the moisture that threatened to remove his mask once more. Eventually, he maneuvered her to the cot, tucking her beneath the single hospital blanket as though she were a child. She gave him a watery smile that broke his heart.

"You are not angry?"

"Starfire," he breathed. "How could you think that? What they did... No one should ever have had to go through that. Star, I don't know what I should do. Are you alright? I mean, you're not, but is there anything...?" He blushed as his babbling got the better of him. What did you say to someone who had endured the every form of trauma imaginable? She wasn't alright. She would never be alright. He ran his hands through his hair.

"I will endure. In time I will put it behind me as I have done before."

"We'll help you. You know we can-"

A knock at the door interrupted him. He knew before he turned his head who was standing there. His body went ice cold as Batman's shadow fell across him.

"Conference room. Now." Batman departed just as abruptly as he arrived, but the mere sight of him sent adrenaline coursing through Robin again. It wasn't until Starfire sighed that he realized he was gritting his teeth.

"You look ready to do battle," she said softly.

"I'll be back," he said darkly.


	27. Chapter 27

"I warned you," said Batman without preamble. Robin felt his shoulders instantly seize with tension. _This_ was what Bruce wanted to talk about? He gritted his teeth.

"Can we not do this now? Starfire was nearly killed, I haven't even seen Beast Boy or Raven yet and Cyborg-" Bedore he could finish his sentence Batman pulled his cape aside to reveal Cyborg propped up in the corner where a small generator had been built. His red eye glowed dimly while his human side slept.

"Two-hundred and twenty-seven lives were put at risk because you were too blinded by _feelings_ to realize that you were completely out-numbered, out-resourced, and out-gunned. If it weren't for Flash's quick thinking by putting that tracker on Cyborg you and your entire team would be dead, your mission failed, and all of those hostages lost." Batman was a tall man, still head and shoukders above Robin even though Robin was in the midst of a major growth spurt. It was difficult to squarter off against him without feeling like a small child again. Still, Robin wasn't cowed by their height difference anymore.

"There wasn't time for protocol, they had Starfire and we only had minutes before she passed outside Raven's ability to track her."

"Irrelevant," said Batman in clipped tones. "You think Jonn would have been hampered by the distance? The League has undergone similar rescue missions in the past. As you can see we brought a ship large enough to transport everyone home. No lives were lost due to _our_ arrival, however, nearly four-hundred Gordanians lie dead in that colosseum, and I am waiting for your explanation."

"There was an explosion," said Robin, straight-faced. "They detonated one of their own bombs. I barely got everyone out in time." In his mind it wasn't a lie. They had created Star's ability to store such great wells of energy. They had pushed her to release it. In all honesty he couldn't drudge up much concern at the losses they had suffered. Batman saw it and he wasn't pleased.

"I didn't raise you to be some love-sick idiot who-"

"You didn't raise me at all. You trained me To be just like you, single-minded, relentless, and unwilling to ask for help even when I know I need it. But that's not entirely true, I called Flash-!"

"As if that makes anything better. Damn it Dick, if you'd come to me I would have tracked the damn ship." Robin stared, wondering for the first time just who he was speaking to. It was well-known that Bruce Wayne, the playboy philanthropist, was the alter ego for Batman and not the other way around, but there were rare moments when even the cowl was a mask for the man who hid beneath, a man who felt emotions just like everyone else and cared about those around him so much that he would rather hurt them himself than see them get hurt. In costume, they were always Batman and Robin. On the rare occasions when they were in uniform and they referred to each other as Bruce and Dick, that was when they were at their most honest.

"You don't know what they did to her, Bruce. She's suffered at their hands for years. Because of her own sister! If we hadn't saved her..." Batman lifted his chin.

"There were other lives at risk, Robin. And it is clear to me that you are too selfish to see beyond your own feelings to realize that."

Behind them they heard a wheezing sound as Cyborg roused himself.

"You can see for yourself what we went through," he said in a weary voice. "I programmed my systems that if my power cells ever fall below five percent to start recording audio and visuals. I figured I'd have a pretty good reason to run so low, and if I did run out someone would want to be able to see how I'd gotten that far." Batman scowled, but before he could punch holes in Cyborg's plan, Robin held up a hand. Batman stilled, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop about five degrees. Robin ignored him, focusing instead on Cyborg. How much had he filmed? Was Starfire on the video? Shouldn't he protect her secrets until she told him what she wanted to do?

"Show me," Batman ordered. Cyborg lifted a hand to tap at his temple. A stream of light gathered in his robotic eye to form a projection on the wall. It began with the Psions eagerly tearing at the metal casings on his body determined to discover where man ended and machine began. Fortunately, there was no sound, but Robin had the feeling that if there was Cyborg would be screaming.

As the camera angles careened back and forth due to Cyborg thrashing around, Robin caught a glimpse of Beast Boy and Raven crouching behind fallen debris and instantly knew Cyborg had sacrificed himself to keep them from being discovered. Pride and respect welled up in him. He turned to say something to his teammate, but stopped. Cyborg was sweating and breathing hard. Belatedly, Robin realized what it was costing him to show them this footage.

"That's enough," he said sharply. Batman jerked his head in disagreement.

"No. Keep going."

Cyborg smiled sadly at Robin.

"It's okay, man," he said quietly. "If it helps put these guys away I can handle it."

When Robin looked back at the footage again he saw that it now showed the main laboratory. They were strapping him into the machine that would tear his limbs apart. Then Robin saw himself strapped to the table and his heart did a strange lurch at the sight. He looked small and helpless in the midst of the enormous machinery and crowding aliens. It wasn't the bruises on his face that got him, it was how vulnerable he looked strapped to the table.

Even though he knew what was coming, Robin wasn't prepared when Beast Boy and Raven made their appearance and pandemonium ensued. When he saw Raven's powers amp up the machine that had electrocuted him he had to turn away. Even with no sound it was gruesome. And then Starfire appeared. Robin refused to watch as she killed the scientist. Cyborg had moved closer and though there was no sound Robin knew Batman could easily read their lips. He didn't have to. He remembered in painful detail what she had said. _'This is what they have made me_.'

"Shut it off!" Robin said hoarsely.

"Robin-"

"He can burn you a copy if you need to see more to realize that we had to act when we did. They had our teammate, they had hostages, and there was no time. If it had been me or Batgirl what would you have done?" Though he threw the question at him, Robin was genuinely interested in the answer. Batman was a ruthless machine. Would he really have stuck to protocol when his own team was in danger? To his surprise, Batman said nothing. His face was gray. Abruptly he turned back to Cyborg.

"I want a copy of the footage. How fast can you get it to me?"

"What's your email address?"

For just a moment the awful tension in the room broke as Batman gave a full-bodied flinch.

"You don't have a more secure method?" he asked, as if Cyborg had suggested he would upload the video to Youtube to see how many likes he could get. Cyborg shrugged with a chuckle.

"Sorry Sir, I may be made of metal, but I'm not a computer. I don't come with a disk burner or USB port." Batman still looked uncertain, and Robin knew the only reason was because he didn't want to give out his email address to a teenager. Robin rolled his eyes.

"If I haven't spammed your account with Teen Titans junk mail I think Cyborg can refrain too."

"Though there are some great fan videos of us that I could send too," Cyborg piped in with a gleam in his eye. Batman looked between the two of them and pinched the bridge of his nose as if he required every ounce of patience he possessed to suffer their existence.

"My username is, _TheGodDamnedBatman,_" he grumbled. Cyborg's face froze, and Robin knew it was only moments before he burst into his deep, booming laugh. Robin wasn't laughing though.

"I thought you deleted that one."

Uncomfortable now that he was on the receiving end of the interrogation, Batman shrugged.

"I delete nothing. Besides, it's not particularly original. If I delete it some crazy will reactivate it and probably cause mayhem by making half the League think I've lost my mind."

"They already think that," said Robin mildly as Batman strode to the door. He hesitated with his hand on the scanner.

"Take care of your team, Robin. You handled yourselves well...given the situation. Next time you will keep me informed. I do not like hearing from Flash that you have left the solar system."

"Don't worry about me. I was off _defending the night_, just like you taught me," Robin quipped, unable to help himself. Cyborg was shaking with silent laughter now. Batman's face spasmed before his teeth flashed in a sardonic smile. A glimpse of Bruce Wayne showed through. He was not about to let Robin have the last word.

"Defending the night is a dangerous job, Robin. Make sure you stay safe."

"Always prepared." He grinned smugly.

"Brat."

"Old Man."

Shaking his head, Batman left.


End file.
